DIVERSION Begins Performances at Premiere Stages This Week

Premiere Stages’ production of Scott Organ’s play Diversion begins performances this week in Kean University’s Bauer Boucher Theatre Center. Diversion was the winner of the 2023 Premiere Play Festival. Directed by Premiere Stages Producing Artistic Director John J. Wooten, Diversion features actors Michelle Liu Coughlin, Jeaniene Green, Lucas Iverson, DeAnna Lenhart, Edie Salas Miller and Dani Nelson.   

In this timely new play a group of devoted and hard working nurses in an ICU unit see their world turned upside down when it is discovered that someone is diverting (stealing) medicine on the unit. The nurses grow even more unsettled when a consultant shows up to investigate the diversion, effectively placing them all under a microscope. When it’s finally revealed who the culprit is, the nurses must fight to save themselves and the integrity of the unit itself.

The professional design team includes Set Designer Bethanie Wampol Watson, Costume Designer Karen Lee Hart, Lighting Designer Zack Gage, Sound Designer Tyler Sautner and Props Master Jennifer Bonilla. Dale Smallwood is the Production Stage Manager. Jenna Gregson serves as the Assistant Stage Manager.

Diversion runs September 5-22 in the Bauer Boucher Theatre Center on the Kean University main campus in Union, N.J. The performance schedule is Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Fridays at 8:00 pm, Saturdays, September 7 and 14 at 3:00 pm and 8:00 pm and Saturday, September 21 at 3:00 pm and Sundays at 3:00 pm. A 2:00 pm performance has been added on Friday, September 20.  

Audience members are invited to engage more deeply with Mr. Organ’s play in Premiere’s free Community Connections following select matinee (3:00 pm) performances. Patrons can learn more about the creative process with featured post-show speakers Playwright Scott Organ and Director John J. Wooten (Sunday, September 8) and the cast of Diversion (Saturday, September 21). Nurse Emily Branitz-Lenhart will share her experience working in a NYC hospital during the pandemic in a talkback on Sunday, September 15. Dates and speakers are subject to change; please call 908-737-4077 or visit premierestagesatkean.com for an updated schedule of post-show events and speakers.

Tickets are $35 standard, $25 for senior citizens and Kean alumni and staff, $20 for patrons with disabilities and $15 for students. Limited $50 tickets are still available for Opening Night on Friday, September 6. Significant discounts for groups of ten or more apply. To make reservations, please call the box office at 908-737-7469 or visit Premiere Stages at premierestagesatkean.com

All Premiere Stages facilities are fully accessible spaces. Assistive listening devices and large print programs are available at all times; publications in alternate formats are available with advance notice. Sign-interpreted and audio described performances are available by request, at least two weeks in advance. Please call 908-737-4077 or email premiere@kean.edu to request these services. For more information, please visit Premiere Stages online at premierestagesatkean.com

Photo credit: Mike Peters

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