Fall Arts Preview: Two River Theater’s 2019-20 Season

“Cyrano”
By Jason O’Connell and Brenda Withers
Adapted from Edmond Rosatnd’s “Cyrano de Bergerac”
Directed by Meredith McDonough
From Sept. 21 through Oct. 13

This adoptions of the classic play “Cyrano de Bergerac” is a combination of comedy and romance. Jason O’Connell leads a five-person cast as the larger than life Cyrano, the brilliant thinker, wordsmith and swordsman. He’s a thorny romantic with an outsized reputation and barely contained love for his childhood sweetheart, Roxane.

 

“Love in Hate Nation”
Music, Lyrics and Book by Joe Iconis
Directed by John Simpkins
From Nov. 9 through Dec. 1

A rock romance by Joe Iconis, composer and lyricist of the Tony-nominated “Be More Chill!” Set in the 1960s, Juvie Hall uses classic “bad girl” movies as the inspiration for the story of young people caught between eras of a changing America. 16-year-old Susannah Son is carted off to the National Reformatory for Girls to get her head put on straight. There, she meets the aggressively incorrigible Sheila Nail, and a relationship forms which leads to an all out “revolution in the institution” as they attempt to break out of the boxes society has created around them.

 

“Twelfth Night”
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Sara Holdren
From Jan. 11 – Feb. 2, 2020

“Twelfth Night” is one of Shakespeare’s most celebrated plays. Cross-dressing heroines, separated twins, and mistaken identities propel this gender-bending tale which celebrates a world in which every broken heart can be made whole.

 

“A Little Shakespeare: Twelfth Night”
By William Shakespeare
Adapted and directed by Em Weinstein
From Jan. 31 – Feb. 9, 2020

Now in its seventh season as one of Two River Theater’s most popular programs, “A Little Shakespeare” introduces the works of Shakespeare to hundreds of youths and adults each year.

 

August Wilson’s “Radio Golf”
Directed by Brandon J. Dirden
From Feb. 29 through March 22, 2020

Director Brandon J. Dirden returns Two River River to direct its sixth production from August Wilson’s American Century Cycle – “Radio Golf,” the Cycle’s 10th and final play, set in 1997. Real-estate developer Harmond Wilks is determined to become the first black mayor of Pittsburgh, and to revitalize the Hill District.

 

“The Hombres”
Written by Tony Meneses
Directed by Annie Tippe
From April 11 through May 10, 2020

Set in New Jersey, the production follows Julián, a gay  Latino yoga teacher, as he clashes with the Latino construction workers outside of his studio – particularly the older head of the crew, Héctor, who seeks from Julián something he never expected.

 

“Lackawanna Blues”
Written, performed and directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson

From June 6 – 28, 2020

A magical, musical and deeply personal work written and performed by Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson, “Lackawanna Blues” is a reminiscence of his 1950s childhood growing up on the banks of Lake Erie. Santiago-Hudson takes on more than 20 colorful characters – from would-be philosophers and petty hustlers to lost souls and and abandoned lovers – in a brilliant celebration of the eccentric boardinghouse he grew up in.

For more information regarding tickets, visit www.tworivertheater.org, or call 732-345-1400.