Olivia Negrón

Play On Shakespeare today announces an expansive list of compelling actors and dynamic directors confirmed to participate in the Play on! Festival, presented in association with Classic Stage Company (CSC) and Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF). Play on! features 39 readings of new, work-in-progress translations of Shakespeare's plays into contemporary modern English by some of today's most exciting playwrights-May 29-June 30 at the Lynn F. Angelson Theater at CSC (136 E. 13th Street). In 2015, Oregon Shakespeare Festival launched an ambitious 39-play, three-year commissioning project, Play on!, tasking 36 playwrights-more than half of whom were women and playwrights of color, each paired with a dramaturg-to translate Shakespeare's canon in celebration of the enduring impact of the Bard's work. Supported by a generous grant from the Hitz Foundation and inspired by long-time patron Dave Hitz's passion for Shakespeare, the project was and continues to be led by Lue Morgan Douthit. For more information, visit playonfestival.org.

Two River Theater (Artistic Director John Dias, Managing Director Michael Hurst) presents the world premiere of El Coqu Espectacular and the Bottle of Doom by Matt Barbot, directed by Jos Zayas. Opening is Friday, January 6 at 7pm and performances will continue through Sunday, February 4 in Two River's Marion Huber Theater, 21 Bridge Avenue, Red Bank, NJ. Tickets are available from 732.345.1400 or tworivertheater.org.

This being a Durang play, the characters have offbeat opinions about everything under the sun, but there's anger and regret underneath the quips, and eventually the deeper emotions come to the surface.