RED BANK — Two River Theater has been awarded a generous $40,000 grant by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation through the foundation’s Building Demand for the Arts program.The program, which launched last year, funds inventive partnerships that create new methods for reaching the public and developing their interest in and access to the performing arts.
Two River Theater will host a residency for Tanya Saracho, an award-winning playwright and writer on TV’s “Girls,” “Looking,” and “Devious Maids,” and director Jerry Ruiz, curator of Two River’s annual Crossing Borders festival of new Latino plays and free community programs, to build demand for theater among Latino audiences. Through the Duke residency, Saracho and Ruiz will create and lead storytelling workshops – utilizing both writing and multimedia – for Red Bank’s Latino community, bringing them into direct contact with the process of creating theater and allowing them to experience the art form as something that is vital and relevant to them. As a result of this project, Two River will commission Saracho to write a play that speaks directly to experiences and challenges that are specific to this community, which will be developed at the theater and directed by Ruiz.
“Two River Theater is deeply grateful to the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation for their generous support of this important initiative,” says Two River Artistic Director John Dias and Managing Director Michael Hurst. “Tanya and Jerry are great artists who have dedicated much of their careers to working on a grassroots level with too-often voiceless populations and then creating work inspired by their experiences.”
Two River Theater invites Red Bank’s Latino community to participate in the first community workshop on Saturday, April 26. No experience is necessary to join. The workshops are open to all people who identify as Latino or Latina, regardless of national or ethnic background, and young people, women, and transgender people are especially encouraged to participate.
Workshops will include opportunities for the participants to talk and share stories. For information, call 732-936-8843.
