UNION, N.J.: Premiere Stages at Kean University has named university student Chad Colacurcio and alumnus Steven Patrick the winners of the 2023 Bauer Boucher Playwriting Awards. Colacurcio will receive a cash prize of $1,000 and Patrick will receive a cash prize of $2,000. Both will receive developmental readings of their plays with a professional cast and director.
The reading for Colacurcio’s The Troubles will be held Jan. 23 at Kean’s Little Theatre. The drama follows Kasey, who escapes Northern Ireland during the violent Troubles but finds additional tragedy as her family heals in New Jersey in 2003. The reading for Patrick’s X ≠ X (X Does Not Equal X) will be held Jan. 26 at Lantern Hill Senior Living in New Providence, N.J. The play follows Professor Lloyd, whose new theory questions accepted concepts of reality and may be the ruin—or salvation—of his struggling college. Both readings will be directed by Premiere Stages producing artistic director John J. Wooten.
Colacurcio is a queer artist who just completed his final semester at Kean, earning a B.A. in Theatre. At Kean, Colacurcio wrote and staged a reading of the play I Am Beautiful, And, based on the book by Keiva Coreen and Sophia Ditchfield. Colacurcio is also a graduate of New York Make-Up Designory’s multimedia program.
Patrick, a 1979 graduate of Kean, is an adjunct professor at both Kean and at Brookdale Community College. His short play Selective Service was produced at the Dragonfly Multicultural Arts Center and his novel Journey at Dusk was published by Ironbound Press. As a visual artist, Patrick has shown and sold wall sculpture pieces with the Barron Arts Center, Arts Guild New Jersey, MCC Performing Arts Gallery, and the Edison Arts Society. Patrick is a partner at Ascendant Architecture & Interior Design, PC.
Honorable mentions for the 2023 Bauer Boucher Playwriting Awards include student Tyler Sautner and alumni Dustin Ballard and B.V. Marshall. Each will receive $150.
The Bauer Boucher Playwriting Award was established in 2014 through funding by W. John Bauer and Nancy Boucher to recognize the work of one Kean University student playwright and one from the alumni community. The award supports playwrights with enhanced visibility, dramaturgical feedback, a cash award, and the opportunity to hear their play read aloud by an ensemble of professional actors.
Premiere Stages was established in 2004 and is a professional Equity theatre in residence at Kean University. Through its unique partnership with Kean, Premiere Stages expands the scope, accessibility, and prestige of campus programming through new play development, professional development, and educational initiatives.
