New Jersey Stage logo
New Jersey Stage Menu


?>

 

Premiere Stages at Kean University Announces Semi-Finalists for 2025 Play Festival

originally published: 05/15/2025

(UNION, NJ) -- Premiere Stages, the professional theatre company in residence at Kean University, is pleased to announce the 2025 Premiere Play Festival Semi-Finalists. The Play Festival panel and literary staff reviewed 805 submissions, an increase of 45 submissions from the previous year, before choosing the 78 Semi-Finalists, representing an eclectic mix of plays, that explore a wide range of topics.

For the complete list of the Semi-Finalists, click here.

“We were thrilled to read the work of over 800 playwrights,” stated Nick Gandiello, Premiere’s Managing Director who supervised the submission process “Our literary team and panel were honored to review each submission to choose these 78 Semi-Finalists. The selected plays showcase the vibrancy of American playwriting.”

From those 78 Semi-Finalists, four Finalists will be chosen for readings in June. The staged readings will be held June 19 through June 22 at the Bauer Boucher Theatre Center (Vaughn-Eames Hall, 1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ). One Finalist will be awarded a full production in Premiere Stages’ 2026 season.

In the twenty seasons since its founding, the Premiere Play Festival has received over 8,800 submissions and developed more than 100 plays. Multiple plays produced at Premiere have been honored by the American Theatre Critics Association, selected for agency representation, and/or been published by Theatrical Rights Worldwide, Concord Theatricals, Dramatists Play Service, Dramatic Publishing, 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.




Advertise with NJ Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info



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 Shubert Foundation, Carole Shaffer-Koros and Robert Koros and ExxonMobil Foundation, The Northfield Bank Foundation, Blue Foundry Charitable 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 their 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.

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. Designated an R2 research university by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education, Kean ranks among the top eight percent of U.S. universities for research and doctorate production. 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.




Advertise with NJ Stage for $50-$100 per month, click here for info


EVENT PREVIEWS

Luna

Luna Stage presents a new solo adaptation of "The Ground on Which We Stand (abridged)"

(WEST ORANGE, NJ) -- Luna Stage presents a new solo adaptation of The Ground on Which We Stand (abridged) from June 5-21, 2025. The play was inspired by the history and legacy of The James Howe House, the first home owned by a formerly enslaved person in Montclair. The project was conceived and is directed by Ari Laura Keith.



Studio

Studio Players presents "The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon"

(MONTCLAIR, NJ) -- Studio Players presents The Brothers Grimm Spectaculathon by Don Zolidis across three weekends from June 6-21, 2025. Over two hundred Fairytales in two hours... what could go wrong?



Sussex

Sussex County Resident's Original Play Selected to Be Performed at New York Theater Festival's "SummerFest 2025"

(NEW YORK, NY) -- Sparta resident Allison Ognibene, and lead faculty of Theater at Sussex County Community College (SCCC) has written an original play called "Mile 59" that will be featured in the renowned New York Theater Festival, "NY Summerfest" in June 2025 at the Hudson Guild Theater.



Prospect

Prospect Musicals presents "The Oscar Micheaux Project"

(NEW YORK, NY) -- Prospect Musicals presents eight developmental performances of The Oscar Micheaux Project, a new jazz musical between June 13–21, 2025 as the part of the company’s residency at Baruch Performing Arts Center (55 Lexington Avenue).



Pioneer

Pioneer Productions Company presents Jonathan Larson's enduring masterpiece "RENT"

(MORRISTOWN, NJ) -- Pioneer Productions is thrilled to announce its upcoming production of RENT, the iconic Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical with music, lyrics, and book by Jonathan Larson. The performances will run from June 13-22, 2025, at The Stage at Fellowship Hall, located in the Morristown United Methodist Church.



FEATURED EVENTS

ART | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | MUSIC | THEATRE | COMMUNITY

To narrow results by date range, categories,
or region of New Jersey
click here for our advanced search.


Play

Play Festival Reading Series: "Mala Aria"

Saturday, June 21, 2025 @ 3:00pm
Premiere Stages - Bauer Boucher Theatre Center
1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ 07083
category: theatre


 

Hedwig

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Saturday, June 21, 2025 @ 8:00pm
Bell Theater
101 Crawfords Corner Road, Holmdel, NJ 07733
category: theatre


 

Vivid

Vivid Stage presents "Gemstones" by Phoebe Farber

Saturday, June 21, 2025 @ 8:00pm
Oakes Center
120 Morris Avenue, Summit, NJ 07901
category: theatre


 

Play

Play Festival Reading Series: "My Brother Jake"

Sunday, June 22, 2025 @ 3:00pm
Premiere Stages - Bauer Boucher Theatre Center
1000 Morris Avenue, Union, NJ 07083
category: theatre


 

Hedwig

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Sunday, June 22, 2025 @ 5:00pm
Bell Theater
101 Crawfords Corner Road, Holmdel, NJ 07733
category: theatre