Press Releases Index

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 2, 2007
CONTACT: John Wooten
Premiere Stages
908-737-4360
E-mail: jwooten@kean.edu

Premiere Stages Announces 2007 Play Festival Finalists
Patrons invited to participate in the new play selection process

UNION, N.J. - Premiere Stages at Kean University will hold its annual Spring Readings on Friday, April 13 and Saturday, April 14 in the University Center Little Theatre, located on Kean's Central Campus, 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 summer season. Three plays will be read over two days and the public is encouraged to actively engage in the new play developmental 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 September. The schedule for the readings is as follows:

Friday, April 13, 7 p.m.
ODD by Hal Corley
A struggling tutor running from his past takes on a teenager with Oppositional Defiance Disorder, opening the teen's eyes to a world outside his sleepy New Jersey suburb and providing hope and perhaps something more to the boy's mother. The issues of single parenting, absent fathers, and our increasing dependence on drug therapy are skillfully interwoven into this poignant new drama.

Saturday, April 14, 3 p.m.
Green Man by Jim Knable
A painter, an architect and a stone sculptor are all haunted by a mysterious Green Man who fills an incredible void in each of their lives. A powerful new play about love, loss and gargoyles.

Saturday, April 14, 3 p.m.
Carve by Molly Smith Metzler
When the Guggenheim debuts his gruesome painting titled Carve , struggling artist Josh finally thinks he's hit the big time. But when the fictional female subject of the painting appears on his fire escape, Josh and his lover/assistant, Jessa, are forced to confront the dark inspiration for the work.

The Premiere Spring Readings are the catalyst for the Premiere Stages Play Festival, which has a mission to encourage and nurture emerging dramatists in New Jersey and the greater metropolitan area. The Premiere Spring Readings give participating playwrights the opportunity 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 Festival is to empower writers to make the transition from page to stage. The audience is crucial in helping them make that leap."