Madison, New Jersey – August 2026
The Masterwork Music and Art Foundation is pleased to announce that Premiere Stages at Kean University is the recipient of our Premier Award in Theatre! This year’s award has been expanded from $10,000 to $15,000 in the interest of supporting four new works, all top finalists from Premiere Stages’ Play Festival.
Premiere Stages is the professional Equity Theatre in residence at Kean University. In a unique partnership with Kean, Premiere Stages contributes to the academic curriculum of the University as well as offering professional programming on the campus. Premiere’s Play Festival has developed over 60 news plays since its inception with this year’s Festival generating nearly 900 submissions.
Masterwork Foundation’s President, Tony Javed, remarked on the strategic partnership with Premiere Stages, noting “What a privilege and treat it has been to collaborate with the passionate, smart and delightful team at Premiere Stages led by Producing Artistic Director, John Wooten and Managing Director, Nick Gandiello! It’s been a most rewarding reminder that provocative, entertaining and inspiring art is all around us and it’s with deepest pride that the Masterwork Foundation team has the opportunity help bring such works to fruition.”
The Masterwork Music and Art Foundation applauds Premiere Stage’s commitment to providing excellence in the arts with this year’s award and the following beneficiaries:
Everything’s Going My Way
by Sophie Boyce
The winner of this year’s festival will receive a $10,000 award along with a full production of the play to run from July 15 through August 1, 2027.
Play Description:
Colin is a psychotherapist assigned to work with the volatile, complicated 17-year-old, Noah. As Noah rebels against the sessions, his mother clings to a belief that he can get better while Colin is drawn into a dangerous paternal protectiveness. Everything's Going My Way compassionately explores masculine intimacy, the ferocity of motherhood, and connection in its most fragile and complicated forms.
Red Bell
by Katherine Swan
The runner up for this year’s festival will receive a $3,000 award as well as two staged readings of the play on December 4 and 6th, 2026.
Play Description:
When ex-dancer Rina shows up at Hank's gym wanting to learn how to box, she triggers a past trauma that she has struggled to leave behind. As she hurtles towards her first fight, Rina embarks on a journey that will forever transform who she is and who she will become. Red Bell is a wise, provocative play with a startling spin on the underdog narrative.
Next Life
by Matthew Capodicasa
Next Life has been awarded $1,000 and a public reading at Premiere Stages with professional actors in June 2026.
Play Description:
In this surprisingly humorous and deeply sensitive play, Elise is facing the end of her life. That is, until an experimental drug trial puts her cancer in remission and reverses the aging process. Newly youthened, she sets out to build a new life for herself in this rapidly changing world, even as the things she knows and the people she loves begin to disappear.
Biting the Hand
by Deneen Reynolds Knott
Biting the Hand has been awarded $1,000 and a public reading at Premiere Stages with professional actors in June 2026.
Play Description:
Chanelle grew up in Ready & Rising and proved the program had the power to change lives. When a public letter throws the organization into crisis, Chanelle finds herself caught between her mentor and maintaining her values. Biting the Hand is an urgent play about the coexistence of gratitude and grievance when trying to be a force for good.
Todd Whitley, Executive Director of The Masterwork Music and Art Foundation, offered that,
“Theater arts matter because they possess the unique ability to build community, enlighten minds, initiate conversations, and heal spirts. We recognize the potential for all of that across these remarkable awardees. On behalf of the Board, congratulations!”
About Premiere Stages
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. For more information, please visit us online at premierestagesatkean.com
About Masterwork Music and Art Foundation
The Masterwork Music and Art Foundation, a non-profit educational organization, promotes, presents, and supports fine and performing arts, including music, literature, theater and visual arts. The Foundation's purpose is dedicated to the advancement of cultural and educational pursuits demonstrating the high standards which have become associated with the name, "Masterwork." The Masterwork Foundation gives grants for projects in a range of media including music, visual arts, literary endeavors, and theatrical productions. For more about the Foundation, visit www.masterworkarts.org
<end>
No comments:
Post a Comment