Skip to main content
A scene from the Premiere Stages production of My Lord, What a Night

Premiere Stages

Full calendar of our upcoming performances

Premiere Stages is committed to serving the cultural needs of northern and central New Jersey through the development and production of high-quality Equity theatre premieres, professional development and educational initiatives for the local and campus communities, and the support and cultivation of emerging playwrights and theatre artists. As the professional theatre company in residence at Kean University, Premiere Stages actively engages and enhances the specialized training programs at Kean, while embracing and serving a culturally diverse audience, underserved local youth, and a broad pool of gifted regionally-based artists.

For more information and a full calendar of our upcoming performances, please visit www.premierestagesatkean.com.

Current Shows
An abstract guitar with fifties colors and the title on the right

Certain Aspects of Conflict in the Negro Family

By Tylie Shider
Directed by Othell J. Miller

2020/21 LIBERTY LIVE COMMISSION
October 13-23, 2022

As tensions reach an all-time high between Newark residents and police, racial and civil unrest begins spilling into Plainfield, New Jersey in the “Long Hot Summer of 1967”. Clif and Peach moved their family to Plainfield for the promise of a better future, but as the riots begin, the family contemplates a return to the South.

Tylie Shider is the recipient of the Liberty Live 2021/22 Commission. The Liberty Live commission is awarded biennially, in partnership with Kean University’s Liberty Hall.

This event has passed.

Student Opportunities

Premiere Stages works with the Kean University Theatre Conservatory and Kean Stage to create first-class, professional opportunities for all students at Kean University. Non-theatre majors can participate and apply for all of these opportunities.

A group of Kean University students posing with Lynn Nottage during a masterclass

Masterclasses

Guest artists teach carefully crafted masterclasses and participate in interactive question-and-answer sessions with Kean University students and members of the campus community.
A group of interns on the set of Brick City.

Internships

Premiere Stages offers internships for college students and recent graduates who have an interest in pursuing a career in theatre. Former interns have gone on to graduate programs and professional theatre careers.
A young woman accepting an award from Art Director, John Wooten on the right

Bauer Boucher Playwriting Award

The Bauer Boucher Playwriting Awards recognizes the work of one Kean student each year. The Bauer Boucher Awards support Kean University writers with enhanced visibility, dramaturgical feedback, a cash award, and the opportunity to hear their plays read out loud by an ensemble of professional actors.

Past Productions

An African-American woman stands in front of banner that reads The Time is Now

2020 Production of Fannie Lou Hamer, Speak On It by Cheryl L. West, featuring Rema Webb
A Muslim family gathered around a table are excited. A man hands a paper to a woman

2019 Production of Yasmina’s Necklace by Rohina Malik
Two women sit on the floor playing Ouija

2019 Production of The Wake by Tammy Ryan, featuring Kelley Rae O’Donnell and Kathy McCafferty
A woman, who is upset, reaches for a young man while a man holds and restrains her.

2018 Production of Linger by Craig Garcia, featuring Robby Haltiwanger, Danielle Skraastad, Michael Frederic, Sarah Kathryn Maki
A young woman in a wheelchair and a young African-American man talk

2018 Production of Brick City by Nicole Pandolfo, featuring Madison Ferris and Chris Grant
A woman smokes a cigarette in a dark room

2017 Production of Skeleton Crew by Dominique Morisseau, featuring Patricia R. Floyd
A young woman and an older man (sing?) in the desert in front of an RV

2016 Production of Las Cruces by Vincent Delaney, featuring Diomargy Nunez and Brian Sutherland
An African-American woman and man talk in a park in the mid-1800s

2015 Production of The People Before the Park by Keith Josef Adkins, featuring W. Tré Davis and Michelle Wilson
A man and woman embrace

2015 Production of By the Water by Sharyn Rothstein, featuring Brian O’Neill and Jo Twiss

“Without organizations like Premiere Stages, new playwrights who bring fresh perspectives and ideas to the art form would rarely have their work see the light of day - much less get an opportunity to have fully staged, Equity production ...”

Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation