Samantha Pugliese, Goodness Kehinde, Alexandra Wuethrich and Layla Welsh. Photo by Irena Sapilak
(UNION, NJ) -- Premiere Stages, the professional theatre company in residence at Kean University, has named the Kean University students and alum who have won the 2026 Bauer Boucher Playwriting Awards. This year Premiere Stages recognizes the work of four student playwrights, Goodness Kehinde (Class of '26), Samantha Pugliese (Class of '26), Layla Welsh (Class of '28) and Alexandra Wuethrich (Class of '26). Alumnus Sahirah Z. Johnson (Class of '17) is the winner of the Alumni Playwriting Award.
The Bauer Boucher Playwriting Awards are named for longtime donors W. John Bauer and Nancy Boucher. All winners received a cash prize and a one-day developmental reading of their plays with a professional cast and director.
A reading of A Different Kind of Arrival by Goodness Kehinde, The Three of Us, Always by Samantha Pugliese, and Seven Years by Layla Welsh was held Thursday, January 15, 2026 at Kean University. Goodness Kehinde completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre in December 2025. She has both on stage credits and behind the scenes credits as an Assistant Director, Wardrobe/Dresser, and Audio Technician.
Samantha Pugliese has performed in the Theatre Department’s mainstage productions and is currently a Student Scene Shop Assistant. Layla Welsh has performed on stage and held technical positions as an Assistant Stage Manager, Light and Sound Board Operator. Both Samantha and Layla are currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre.
A reading of Baba Knows Best by Alexandra Wuethrich and The Window Seat by Sahirah Z. Johnson was held on Tuesday, January 20, 2026 at Lantern Hill Senior Living, where both Mr. Bauer and Ms. Boucher reside. Alexandra Wuethrich is a senior pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, with a minor in Theatre. Alexandra is a beginning playwright who found the inspiration to write about her grandmother in the classroom. Sahirah Z. Johnson is a Newark-born performer, educator, writer, and vocalist. She studied Music Education at Howard University before earning her Bachelor’s degree in Theatre from Kean University and her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Sahirah is familiar with the Bauer Boucher Playwriting Award, having won the student award in 2015.
Alexandra Wuethrich, Nancy Boucher, W. John Bauer and Sahirah Z. Johnson. Photo by Irena Sapilak
The Bauer Boucher Playwriting Award, established in 2014 through funding by Premiere Stages supporters W. John Bauer and Nancy Boucher, recognizes the work of Kean University students and playwrights 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 presented by a cast of professional actors under Actors’ Equity Association Staged Reading Guidelines. The winning students each received a cash prize of $500 and the winning alum received a $1,000 award.
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, 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 our 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.
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