RED BANK — The Two River Theater Company is expanding one of its flagship education programs, No Seats Empty, to reach at-risk adolescents from five Monmouth County schools.
The new program, No Seats Empty 2.0 (NSE 2.0), integrates the experience of seeing theater productions with in-depth examinations of their literary, historical and social context, thereby enhancing the experience young people have at the theater and their connection to the arts, according to a press release from the theater.
Launched this fall, NSE 2.0 will make theater accessible to at-risk students through free tickets and transportation, and will engage students in their classrooms with preand post-performance workshops facilitated by professional artists.
In the first year of the program, NSE 2.0 will serve a targeted population of approximately 500 students from Asbury Park High School, Long Branch High School, Neptune High School, Red Bank Borough Middle School and Keansburg Middle School.
Two River Theater will continue to reach an additional 1,200 students from Monmouth, Ocean, Atlantic, Essex, Mercer, and Union Counties through No Seats Empty, NSE 2.0.
No Seats Empty 2.0 was launched this fall with a grant from Investors Foundation, which supports nonprofit organizations that enhance the communities served by Investors Bank. The program is also supported by the Mary Owen Borden Foundation and the Stone Foundation of New Jersey.
In addition to No Seats Empty and NSE 2.0, the theater offers numerous education initiatives for students from grades K-12 that introduce young people to the theater, support academic achievement, and foster opportunities for youths to engage with artists. For more information, visit www.trtc.org.