Artwork by Yadira Hernández
(UNION, NJ) -- Premiere Stages, the professional Equity theatre in residence at Kean University, presents the New Jersey Premiere of Walden by Amy Berryman, September 4-21, 2025 in Kean University’s Bauer Boucher Theatre Center. Directed by Charlotte Cohn, Walden will feature professional actors Allison Altman, Erin Germaine Mahoney and Anthony Vaughn Merchant.
In this timely play set in the near future, Stella and her fiancé, Bryan, are waiting at their remote cabin for Stella’s estranged twin sister, Cassie. Raised by their astronaut father to be NASA scientists, the twins have taken different paths: Cassie has just returned from a successful moon mission, while Stella left NASA behind. When Cassie arrives, old conflicts reignite, forcing the sisters to choose between life on Earth or pursuing a future in space, as humanity’s fate hangs in the balance.
The accomplished cast includes Allison Altman, whose theatre credits include Birthday Candles (Roundabout Theatre Company- OBC) and Mother, Daughter, Sisterwife (St. Ann’s Warehouse); Erin Germaine Mahoney, an actor, screenwriter, and playwright who recently appeared as Detective Carol Mackey in FBI: Most Wanted (CBS) and Anthony Vaughn Merchant, an actor and director, whose notable credits include powerful roles in Pay No Attention to the Girl, August: Osage County, and A Raisin in the Sun.
The cast of Walden (left to right): Erin Germaine Mahoney, Anthony Vaughn Merchant, Allison Altman
Understudies for the production are Kean Theatre Conservatory students Marcus McPherson and Ellie Saucier.
Walden made its New York premiere at Second Stage Theater (Bennett Leak, Interim Artistic Director, Lisa Lawer Post, Executive Director) in 2024. Walden was first presented on stage by Sonia Friedman Productions. This production is presented through special arrangement with TRW Plays.
Walden was a finalist of Premiere Stages’ 2019 Play Festival and had a developmental workshop in June 2019.
“Serving as a launchpad for new plays is a very important part of our mission” stated Premiere’s Producing Artistic Director, John J. Wooten.” Seeing all of Amy’s success in London and New York after the initial development Walden received at Premiere Stages makes welcoming it back for its New Jersey Premiere extra special.”
Director Charlotte Cohn directed the critically acclaimed UK premiere of Canned Goods by Erik Kahn in London, after directing the World Premiere at the American Theatre Group in N.J. Other directing highlights include Church & State (Berkshire Theatre Group), The Whole Shebang and Baltimore in Black and White (The Cell Theatre, NYC), My Italy Story (American Theatre Group) and Best Friends (Jazz at Lincoln Center). She will direct a reading of the new musical The Sound, co-created with Jason Odell Williams and Christian Douglas, in September.
The professional design team includes Set Designer David M. Barber, Costume Designer Julia Squier, Lighting Designer Zack Gage, Sound Designer Chad Raines and Props Master and Scenic Artist Michael Brinskele. Casting is by Stephanie Klapper, CSA. Dale Smallwood is the Production Stage Manager. Tori Hiotakis is the Assistant Stage Manager.
Walden runs September 4-21 in the Bauer Boucher Theatre Center at Kean University (1000 Morris Avenue) in Union, New Jersey. The performance schedule is Thursdays, September 4 and 18 at 7:30pm, Fridays at 7:30pm, Saturdays at 3:00pm & 7:30pm and Sundays at 3:00pm. There will be an additional 3:00pm performance on Friday, September 12.
Opening Night of Walden is scheduled for Friday, September 5. Following the Opening Night performance, mingle with the cast in the theatre lobby while enjoying champagne and dessert. Tickets for Opening Night are $53.
Tickets for all other performances are $40.50 standard, $30.50 for senior citizens and Kean alumni and staff, $25.50 for patrons with disabilities and $18 for students. All prices include ticket fees. Significant discounts for groups of ten or more apply. To make reservations or to order a season brochure, please call the box office at 908-737-7469 or visit Premiere Stages online at premierestagesatkean.com.
Assistive listening devices and large print programs are available at all times; publications in alternate formats are available with advance notice. Sign-interpreted and audio described performances are available by request, at least three weeks in advance. Please call 908-737-4077 or email [email protected] to request these services.
Amy Berryman is a playwright, screenwriter, actor, and teaching artist originally from Seattle by way of West Texas. Her play Walden, directed by Ian Rickson, had its world premiere on London’s West End in May 2021. Walden premiered off-Broadway in 2024, directed by Whitney White, and was a nominee for the John Gassner Award from the Outer Critics' Circle and a nominee for Outstanding Production of a Play from the Drama League. Walden was also produced at TheaterWorks in Hartford in August 2021, directed by Mei Ann Teo (New York Times Critic’s Pick). Her work has been developed at Premiere Stages, Kitchen Dog, Caltech, East 15, Portland Stage, Great Plains Theatre Conference, Valdez Last Frontier Theatre Conference, and AMiOS, among others.
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.
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.
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.
