Premiere Stages At Kean University Reveals 2025 Premiere Play Festival Finalists

Premiere Stages has selected its four finalists for the 2025 Premiere Play Festival. Now in its 20th year, the Festival is an annual competition for unproduced scripts that offers developmental opportunities to playwrights with strong affiliations to New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Delaware. This year's finalists were selected from 805 submissions.

This year's finalists are: Lia Del Mar by Dacyl Acevedo, a member of Dramatic Question Theatre, who is currently working with Latinx Playwrights' Circle; angel's share by Dominic Finocchiaro, a three-time MacDowell Fellow, and Marble House and Ucross Fellow; Mala Aria by Gloria Majule, who has been awarded a MacDowell Fellowship and commissions by Audible and Atlantic Theater Company; and My Brother Jake by Dave Osmundsen, a recipient of the Blank Theatre and Ucross Foundation's inaugural Future of Playwriting Prize.

In Lia Del Mar, two generations of Afro-Mexican women do their best to make ends meet in the Costa Chica region of Mexico.  Dalia faces pressure to sell her family's land, Luisa loses her spot to sell food, and Yolanda tries to keep the restaurant Lia Del Mar afloat.  As Luisa's and Yolanda's daughters navigate new ways to make money, the older generation must find a way to reconcile a longstanding feud in order to provide for their futures.

In angel's share, mom and dad's son has died. His name was steve. With a tiny implant, the boundary between steve and another teenager named stephen could begin to dissolve. But what's lost along the way? Is a person more than just their memories? A speculative fiction exploration of grief, love and family.

In Mala Aria, Amazia leaves her family in Tanzania to pursue a PhD abroad, hoping to discover how to eradicate Malaria. An unforeseen turn of events puts her in a position where she has to decide between staying in the West and going back home to finish what she started.

In My Brother Jake, Jake Barnsley, Autistic theatre artist, has an “inspiring” career. Ethan, his higher-needs twin brother, lives in his shadow. When Jake's life and livelihood starts to crack, Ethan makes an impassioned bid for agency.

All finalists will receive professional readings, as part of Premiere's 20th annual Play Festival Finalists Reading Series June 19-22 at the Bauer Boucher Theatre Center and will be considered for expanded development in Premiere's mainstage season. One of the four plays will be selected for an Actors' Equity Association (AEA) 29-Hour Reading in November 2025, and the most promising play will be awarded a full AEA production as part of Premiere's 2026 season. All finalists receive cash awards ranging from $1,000 to $3,000. Readings are offered by invitation only. To request admission to any of the readings, please email premiere@kean.edu

This year's submissions were evaluated through a process coordinated by Premiere Stages' Managing Director Nick Gandiello, Literary Associate Emily Dzioba and Literary Assistant Jessica DeLuca, in partnership with esteemed panelists Ashley Nicole Baptiste, Eddie Gouveia Blackman, William Eddy, José Fernando González-Vidal, Claudia Nolan, Scott Organ, Benjamin V. Marshall, Lysna Marzani, and Carole Shaffer-Koros.

In the twenty seasons since its founding, the Premiere Play Festival has received over 8,800 submissions and developed more than 100 plays. Multiple plays produced at Premiere have been honored by the American Theatre Critics Association, selected for agency representation, and/or been published by Theatrical Rights Worldwide, Concord, Dramatists Play Service, Dramatic Publishing Company, Playscripts, and Broadway Play Publishing. A number of Play Festival winners and finalists have subsequently been produced in New York, internationally and at regional theatres across the country.

New Jersey Awards - Live Stats

Best Musical - Top 3

1. THE LITTLE MERMAID (HOWELL PAL THEATRE COMPANY)

3.1% of votes

2. HAIR (Vanguard Theater Company)

2.9% of votes

3. SCHOOL OF ROCK (Playhouse 22)

2.9% of votes

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