RED BANK – Two River Theater Company continues its 2013/2014 season with “Pinkolandia,” a new play written by Andrea Thome and directed by Jose Zayas.
Performances will begin in Two River’s Marion Huber Theater, 21 Bridge Ave., on Saturday, Feb. 22, and continue through Sunday, March 23. The opening night performance is 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 28.
“Pinkolandia” was introduced to Red Bank audiences as a reading in Two River’s 2012 Crossing Borders festival of new Latino plays, and is produced as part of Lark Play Development Center’s “Launching New Plays into the Repertoire Initiative” supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Andrea Thome and Jose Zayas have further developed the play since its first production; Two River’s production will run as a 90-minute play without an intermission.
Inspired by Thome’s own family history, “Pinkolandia” tells the story of two young sisters and their parents, exiled from Chile in the aftermath of the 1973 coup, who have settled in the strange new land of Reagan-era Wisconsin. There, the girls create imaginary worlds to make sense of their family’s past, as their parents try to find their own place in the American Dream – knowing that sometimes, when you lose your country, you have to make your own.
Ticket prices range from $45 to $65, with discounts available for groups, seniors, and U.S. military personnel, their families, and veterans. Tickets for patrons under 30 are $24 and include the best available seats at every performance. Tickets are available from tworivertheater.org or 732-345-1400.
Several special events have been scheduled in conjunction with the production. They are:
- A panel discussion, “Launching a New Play into the Repertoire of Great American Theater,” will be held at 4:45 p.m. Sunday, March 2, in the Victoria J. Mastrobuono Library. “Pinkolandia’s” development and how it has resonated in different communities across the country will be discussed.
- A Pinkolandia poetry slam will be held at 7 p.m. Monday, March 3, in the Victoria J. Mastrobuono Library. The public is invited to attend to perform their own poems in English or Spanish, or listen to poems performed by others.
- A book club discussion will be held at 5 p.m. Sunday, March 9, in the Victoria Mastrobuono Library. Literary manager Anika Chapin will lead a discussion of “Maya’s Notebook,” a coming-of-age story by Chilean author Isabel Allende.
Throughout the run of Pinkolandia, Two River’s artistic staff will be joined by guest speakers from the community, who will share their own insights into the play and take questions from the audience. Visit www.tworivertheater.org for speakers and dates.
