Photo Flash: Premiere Stages Teams with Matheny Medical and Educational Center for PLAYS BY PEOPLE

Premiere Stages at Kean University, in partnership with the Matheny Medical and Educational Center, presented Plays by People, an evening of original works by the talented playwrights of Matheny's Arts Access Program, on March 28 at the Robert Schonhorn Arts Center in Peapack. BroadwayWorld has photos below!

The free event, presented as part of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance's annual Stages Festival, featured staged readings of six short plays written by Arts Access playwrights and performed by professional actors. The playwrights - all adults with medically complex developmental disabilities - were an integral part of the staging process, offering direct feedback to the actors on how to best present their written work, and in some cases appearing in the plays themselves.

The plays presented were In a Box by Natalia Manning, Angels in Heaven by Jessica Evans, Jeff and Marie by Amanda Kochell, Tatianna''s Play by Tatyana Manousakis, Search for the Sun by Cheryl Chapin, and Bear Play by Cindy Shanks.

The Matheny Medical and Educational Center is a special hospital for children and adults with medically complex developmental disabilities. As a comprehensive medical center, a special education school and teaching hospital, Matheny is designed to meet the needs of persons with all types of disabilities. The Arts Access Program, founded at Matheny in 1993, offers opportunities for unlimited self-expression in the arts. Through the use of Arts Access' specialized communication and choice systems, the world of the artist with disabilities becomes unlimited and rich with creative possibilities. For more information, visit www.artsaccessprogram.org or www.matheny.org.

The partnership between Premiere Stages and Matheny's Arts Access Program was facilitated by the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, which presented its statewide Stages Festival throughout March. Founded in 1981, the New Jersey Theatre Alliance is the first statewide organization for professional, not-for-profit theatre companies in the United States, and is a leader in developing model programs that foster collaboration, cooperation and audience development. The Alliance provides member theatres and arts patrons a wide range of supportive services and programs, assists member theatres in their growth and development - as well as in the promotion of their programs - helping them reach their full potential. For arts patrons, the Alliance provides a variety of services to enhance their theatre-going experience.

The New Jersey Theatre Alliance's Stages Festival offers over 100 performances, workshops, classes, and events at the state''s professional theatres, performing arts centers, libraries, schools, senior centers, museums and other community venues. The program was developed to encourage New Jersey''s residents to attend their local professional theatres by making the experience affordable, accessible, and fun. Since its inception 18 years ago, the program has served over 90,000 people. For more information on the Stages Festival, visit www.njtheatrealliance.org or www.stagesfestival.org. For more information, go online to www.kean.edu/premierestages.

Photo Credit: Eileen Murray