Premiere Stages, the professional theatre company in residence at
Kean University, is pleased to announce the 2023 Premiere Play Festival
Semi-Finalists.
The Play Festival panel and literary staff reviewed 701 submissions before choosing the 40 Semi-Finalists.
From those 40
Semi-Finalists, four Finalists will be chosen in May for public readings. Those
readings will be held June 8-11, 2023, at Enlow Recital Hall (215 North Avenue,
Hillside, NJ 07205). One finalist will be awarded a full production in Premiere
Stages’ 2024 season.
“We are so pleased to recognize a diverse mix of compelling new
plays in our 2023 semi-finalist pool, including some playwrights who have
submitted to Premiere for the first time”, stated Producing Artistic Director
John J. Wooten. “Selecting only four finalists for development from this
outstanding group will be difficult.”
40 Semi-Finalists for the 2023 Premiere Play Festival
- Killer by Steve Apostolina
- and thou shalt be healed by Benjamin Benne
- M-Theory by Jami Brandli
- The Reservoir by Jake Brasch
- #BecklandisCancelled by Alicia Carroll
- The Seekers by Jeesun Choi
- backstroke boys by Xavier Clark
- Hotel Limbo by Alice Cohen
- The Fertile River by Vincent Terrell Durham
- Mercutio Loves Romeo Loves Juliet Loves by Gina Femia
- Stay Up and Keep Rolling by Maximillian Gill
- Order My Steps by Kathryn Grant
- Motherland by Allison Gregory
- Sunny Days by Reina Hardy
- Invasive Species by Tori Keenan-Zelt
- Sisters by Matthew Libby
- Uhuru by Gloria Majule
- The High Priestess by Andrew Martini
- Flowers for Men by Christian Mendonça
- For the People by Carol Mullen
- Pearl Dust from a Gun by Esmé Maria Ng
- La Potencia by Mel Nieves
- Diversion by Scott Organ
- Saturday Mourning Cartoons by Iraisa Ann Reilly
- Jesus Plays Basketball on a Hot Night in Iraq by Tyler
Rivenbark
- Color Boy by Esperanza Rosales Balcárcel
- Stockade by Andrew Rosendorf
- Confirmation by Madeline Rouverol
- Take My Hand and Wave Goodbye by Tammy Ryan
- An Interpretation of Anna by Natalie Sacks
- The Caldera by Sarah Saltwick
- Labor by TyLie Shider
- Who's Yehoodi? by Jerry Slaff
- Breakfalls by Gina Stevensen
- Brother Johnny's Homestyle BBQ by Parade Stone
- Into the Side of A Hill by James Anthony Tyler
- The Halal Brothers by Alaudin Ullah
- The Matriarchs by Liba Vaynberg
- Come to Me, Cling to You by Stephanie Kyung Sun Walters
- Luminescence by Emily Welty
In
the 18 seasons since its founding, the Premiere Play Festival has
received over 7,200 submissions and developed more than 80plays. Multiple
plays produced at Premiere have been honored by the American Theatre Critics
Association, selected for agency representation, and/or been published by
Concord, Dramatists Play Service, Dramatic Publishing Company, Playscripts, and
Broadway Play Publishing. A number of Play Festival winners and finalists have
subsequently been produced in New York, internationally and at regional
theatres across the country.
Premiere
Stages offers affordable prices, air-conditioned facilities and free parking
close to the theatre. Premiere Stages also provides free or discounted tickets
to patrons with disabilities. All Premiere Stages facilities are fully
accessible spaces, and companion seating is available for patrons with
disabilities. Assistive listening devices and large print programs are
available at all times; publications in alternate formats are available with
advance notice. Please call 908-737-4077 for a list of sign-interpreted,
audio-described or open-captioned performances. For more information, please
visit Premiere Stages online at premierestagesatkean.com
Premiere
Stages is made possible in part through funding from W. John Bauer and Nancy
Boucher, The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, The Geraldine R. Dodge
Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, Carole Shaffer-Koros and Robert Koros and
ExxonMobil Foundation, The Dubose and Dorothy Heyward Foundation, The
Northfield Bank Foundation, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, The Union
Foundation, E.J. Grassmann Trust, The New Jersey Theatre Alliance, Investors
Foundation, The Union County HEART Grant and through the generous support of
individual patrons and local organizations. Discover Jersey Arts is our
marketing partner. Visit JerseyArts.com for more information about
other arts programming happening around the Garden State.
Premiere Stages is committed to producing topical plays and interactive
programs that reflect people of all ethnic and racial backgrounds, national
origins, nationalities, ancestry, religious groups, gender expression or
identities, sexual orientation, political beliefs, ages, abilities and
disabilities.
ABOUT PREMIERE STAGES
Created in 2004, Premiere Stages is the professional Equity theatre in
residence at Kean University. Through its unique partnership with Kean,
Premiere’s play development programs, educational initiatives, and professional
development opportunities actively embrace the university's academic curriculum
while expanding the scope, accessibility, and prestige of the professional
programming on campus. For more information, please visit Premiere Stages
online at premierestagesatkean.com
ABOUT KEAN UNIVERSITY
Founded in 1855, Kean University is one of the largest metropolitan
institutions of higher education in the region, with a richly diverse student,
faculty and staff population. Kean continues to play a key role in the training
of teachers and is a hub of educational, technological and cultural enrichment
serving more than 16,000 students. The University’s six colleges offer more
than 50 undergraduate degrees, seven doctoral degree programs, and more than 70
options for graduate study leading to master’s degrees, professional diplomas
or certifications over a full range of academic subjects. With campuses in
Union, Toms River, Jefferson and Manahawkin, New Jersey, and Wenzhou, China,
Kean University furthers its mission by providing an affordable and accessible
world-class education. Visit kean.edu.