Two River Theater Crosses Borders

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By Mary Ann Bourbeau
RED BANK – Back in 2013, Lisa Rothe directed the play “Ropes” when it was presented as a reading in both English and Spanish in the Two River Theater’s Crossing Borders Festival of new Latino plays.
“It’s a beautiful story of love and life between three brothers,” she said. “It takes you on an emotional and psychological journey as they relearn about each other. There’s nothing particularly Latino about the play. It’s a universal story, and I had very strong feelings about it.”
Rothe considers herself fortunate to be directing the show where that reading took place, at the Two River Theater.
“What I like about this play is that it’s simple yet abstract,” she said. “And there’s a little bit of magic in it.”
“Ropes” was written by Mexican playwright and director Barbara Colio and translated by Venezuelan-American writer Maria Alexandria Beech. It is a story about three estranged brothers who get together at an airport to meet with the father who abandoned them as children. The father is now the most famous tightrope walker in the world, and he invites his sons to come see his final act. It’s a story about forgiveness, love and loss.
The show stars Varin Ayala, Gabriel Gutierrez and Luis Moreno.
“We get to experience everything through watching the brothers,” Rothe said. “The father makes an appearance, but not in a physical being.”
John Dias, the theater’s artistic director, said he was never able to let go of the show after seeing it at the Crossing Borders Festival.
“It’s a gorgeous, deeply moving play,” Dias said. “We are especially pleased to present two performances in Spanish, and create opportunities for our Spanish-speaking audiences to experience the play in its original language.”
The Two River Theater launched the Crossing Borders festival in 2011 to foster a stronger relationship between the theater and Red Bank’s Latino community. It aims to create platforms and opportunities for Latino artists. During the five-day festival, writers, directors and actors perform readings of new, original Latino works.
“Theater is a way to bring people together,” said Rothe, who has workshopped, developed and directed hundreds of new plays and musicals. “I think it’s great what the Two River Theater is doing, starting a cross-cultural conversation.”
“Ropes” will be performed from Feb. 20 through March 20, with opening night set for Friday, Feb. 26. There will be two performances in Spanish – a student matinee on March 3 and a public performance on March 5. Free childcare will be available at the March 5 show.
At 7 p.m. Feb. 18, the audience will have the unique opportunity to meet and interact with Justin Provoncha and Dave Gillies, two professional wire walkers from the Funicular Circus. The men will talk about their adventures designing, installing and walking on wire. Provoncha will discuss how he coached the cast of “Ropes” on the techniques and body movements of professional tightrope walkers to reenact in the production. Afterward, they will introduce a screening of “The Walk,” a 2015 film chronicling tightrope daredevil Philippe Petit’s 1974 high-wire walk between the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers.
Stephen Kaplan, the New Jersey regional representative for the Dramatists Guild, will moderate “The Art of Translation” with Barbara Colio and Maria Alexandria Beech following the Feb. 20 evening performance. Discussions with the cast and a member of the theater’s artistic staff will take place at 7 p.m. March 2; 3 p.m. March 6, and 1 p.m. March 9.
“Ropes” is 90-minutes long with no intermission. Tickets are $45 to $65. Tickets for the Spanish-language public performance are $20. An audio-described show is scheduled for 1 p.m. March 16 and an open-captioned performance will take place at 3 p.m. March 19. Tickets for those shows are $25.
For more information, visit www.tworivertheater.org or call 732-345-1400.
Arts and entertainment writer Mary Ann Bourbeau can be reached at mbourbeau@tworivertimes.com. Follow her on Twitter @MaryAnnBourbeau.