Bauer Boucher Alumna Award Winner Megan Tobias and Bauer Boucher Student Award Winner Tyler Sautner.

(UNION, NJ) -- Premiere Stages, the professional theatre company in residence at Kean University, has named Kean University student Tyler Sautner (Class of '25) and alumna Megan Tobias (Class of '19) as the winners of the 2025 Bauer Boucher Playwriting Awards, named for longtime donors W. John Bauer and Nancy Boucher. Both winners received a cash prize and a one-day developmental reading of their plays with a professional cast and director.

The reading of On the Edge by Tyler Sautner was held on Monday, February 3 at Kean University. Deep in the snowy Canadian woods, city-dweller Marlin meets Frank, a wilderness expert. The two begin to bond as Frank attempts to acclimate Marlin to the outdoors on a 5-day camping trip. As the situation evolves into more than Marlin bargained for, his survival skills prove to be more valuable than he could have imagined.

Tyler Sautner is a composer/playwright based in Linden, New Jersey. He is a Senior BA Theatre major at Kean University. In addition to On the Edge, he is writing two musicals; Beyond the Horizon (Libretto: Bauer Baucher 2022 Honorable Mention), and A Separate Peace. As a composer, his recent scores include Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (Kean) and Animal Farm (Kean). Apart from writing, Tyler is a skilled actor and musician, having been seen in Significant Other, Godspell, Newsies, The Tempest, and other productions. He is additionally a member of the American Federation of Musicians, working as a freelance music director and musician in the tri-state area.

(From Left): W. John Bauer, Alumni Winner Megan Tobias, Nancy Boucher.​​​​​​​

The reading of Oversteegen by Megan Tobias was held on Wednesday, February 26 at Lantern Hill, where both Mr. Bauer and Ms. Boucher reside. Based on a true story, Oversteegen follows the lives of Freddie and Truus Oversteegen, who were just 14 and 16 when they joined the Dutch Haarlem resistance against Nazi Germany. Later joined by Hannie Schaft, the trio take on jobs smuggling intelligence to Allied powers, aiding Jewish families in their escapes, and seducing and killing Nazi officers. Together they struggle with the reality of what they’ve been asked to do, living with the constant threat of being discovered, and desperately trying to keep true to themselves. Oversteegen is a play about sisterhood, resilience, and resistance.

New York City-based artist Megan Tobias is an actor, writer, historian, and dramaturg. Megan has a passion for storytelling and a commitment to bringing diverse stories and genres to life. As an actor she has been a part of both theatre and film, her favorite credits include Crystal (In A Time of Jewels) which won Best Film Long-Short and Best Ensemble in The Brightside Festival in 2023, Ki (Where Are You Going?), and understudy for Claudia (Year One). She dramaturged for the NJ Premiere of Yasmina’s Necklace by Rohina Malik at Premiere Stages in 2019, as well as The Councilman by Lucien Edme, Son of an Unknown Father by Reynaldo Piniella, Weed In A Cold, Dry Patch by Chris Grant, and No History by Reynaldo Piniella. She was part of NJ Play Lab’s inaugural Storyteller Studio in 2020. Her screenplay The Outliers placed as a quarterfinalist for the Screencraft Sci-Fi and Fantasy Competition (2022), and the Screencraft TV Pilot Script Competition (2023). The Outliers was also named in the Second Round Selection for the ISA Fast Track Fellowship (2023). Oversteegen has had a reading at The Untitled Play Lab (2024) and was a part of The Tank’s Limefest (2024).

Honorable mentions include Aidan Colon in the student category and Emily Conklin and Steven Patrick in the alumni category.

The Bauer Boucher Playwriting Award, established in 2014 through funding by Premiere Stages supporters W. John Bauer and Nancy Boucher, recognizes the work of one Kean University student and one playwright from the alumni community on an annual basis. The Bauer Boucher Award supports Kean University writers with enhanced visibility, dramaturgical feedback, a cash award, and the opportunity to hear their play read out loud by an ensemble of professional actors. The selected plays are directed by John J. Wooten, producing artistic director of Premiere Stages, and performed by a cast of professional actors under Actors’ Equity Association Staged Reading Guidelines. The winning student receives a cash prize of $1,000 and the winning graduate receives a $2,000 award. Honorable Mention recipients receive $150 each.

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.

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.

Kean University, New Jersey’s urban research university, is a national institution of higher education recognized for its diversity, innovation and the social mobility of its graduates. Founded in 1855 as a teachers college, Kean has evolved into a thriving research university that supports students as they persist to graduation, give back to their communities and launch successful careers. Kean’s six colleges offer more than 50 undergraduate programs, six doctoral degree programs and more than 70 options leading to master’s degrees, professional diplomas or certifications, across a full range of academic subjects. With campuses in Union, Toms River and Manahawkin, New Jersey, and Wenzhou, China, as well as Kean Online, the University provides students of all backgrounds an affordable and accessible world-class education.

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, Blue Foundry Charitable Foundation, The Northfield Bank Foundation, Union County Savings Bank Charitable Foundation, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, The Union Foundation, E.J. Grassmann Trust, The New Jersey Theatre Alliance, 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.