Press Releases Index

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 21, 2007
CONTACT: Melissa Gawlowski
Premiere Stages
908-737-4092
E-mail: mgawlows@kean.edu

Premiere Stages at Kean University Offers
Interactive Readings for the Public
Patrons actively participate in the new play selection process

UNION, N.J. - Premiere Stages at Kean University will hold its annual Spring Readings on Friday and Saturday, April 13 and 14 in the University Center Little Theatre, located at Kean University, 1000 Morris Avenue, Union, N.J.

Three plays, selected from more than 350 submissions, will be given a professional reading and will be considered for expanded development as part of the Premiere Stages 2007 season. One play will be read each evening, and the public is encouraged to actively engage in the new play-development process. Evaluation forms will be distributed and patrons may participate in post-reading dialogues with the writers. One of the three plays will be selected for an Actors' Equity Association (AEA) staged reading in June, and the most promising play will be awarded a fully produced AEA production in July.

The mission of the Premiere Stages Play Festival is to encourage and nurture emerging dramatists in New Jersey and the greater metropolitan area. The Premiere Spring Readings allow these playwrights to explore their work in front of an audience and to discover the strengths and weaknesses inherent in their scripts.

  "The public is afforded the unique opportunity to see three plays in a developmental forum, make suggestions and recommendations to the playwrights, and return a few months later to see two of the three plays produced under an Equity contract," said John Wooten, producing artistic director of Premiere Stages. "Our patrons are an integral part of the process. The aim of the series is to empower writers to make the transition from page to stage, and the audience is crucial in helping them make that leap."