Premiere Stages At Kean University Announces 2019 Bauer Boucher Award Winner

Premiere Stages, the professional theatre company in residence at Kean University, has named alumnus Tariq Hamami '06 as the winner of the 2019 Bauer Boucher Playwriting Award. The Award recently increased from $250 to $2,000 as part of a major five-year sustaining gift from longtime donors W. John Bauer and Nancy Boucher. In addition to the cash prize, Mr. Hamami also received two professional public readings of his play at Kean University in Union and Lantern Hill Retirement Community in New Providence. Based on a true story, the play, Smail, dramatizes one man's imprisonment and persecution during the Algerian Civil War.

Mr. Hamami's full-length plays include White Picket Fences at the Access Theatre and Spite at the Cherry Lane Theatre in the New York International Fringe Festival. His work has also been developed and/or produced at the Horace Mann Theatre, Playsmiths, and Wide Eyed Productions, among others. A graduate of Kean and Columbia University, Mr. Hamami teaches at The City College of New York and the Borough of Manhattan Community College. He won the inaugural Bauer Boucher Playwriting Award in 2014 for his play, The One, Percy Ent.

"I'm very thankful for the opportunity to develop Smail with Premiere Stages," said Mr. Hamami. "The play is in its early drafts and hearing it out loud is vital in order to move forward with the development process. Contrary to what some might think, it's hard to find a company willing to work with new plays in its early stages. The opportunities Premiere Stages provides are vital and I'm very thankful for the help they've given me to move forward with the play."

The Bauer Boucher Playwriting Award recognizes the work of one playwright each year from the Kean University student and alumni community. The selected play is directed by John J. Wooten, producing artistic director of Premiere Stages, and is performed by a cast of professional Actors' Equity Association actors.

"Doing readings and workshops of new plays like this one is so essential because it's the foundation for getting these works out there to a wider audience," noted actor Abraham Makany, who played the title character Smail. "That's how you get new, vital stories and voices like Tariq's out into the world."

"And the reading is only a part of it," added Mr. Wooten. "Through John and Nancy's incredible generosity, budding Kean University writers are also afforded enhanced visibility, dramaturgical feedback, and financial recognition of their work."

Premiere Stages offers affordable prices, air-conditioned facilities and free parking close to the theatre. Premiere Stages also provides free or discounted tickets to patrons with disabilities. All Premiere Stages facilities are fully accessible spaces, and companion seating is available for patrons with disabilities. Assistive listening devices and large print programs are available at all times; publications in alternate formats are available with advance notice. Please call 908-737-4077 for a list of sign-interpreted, audio-described or open-captioned performances. For more information, please visit Premiere Stages online at www.premierestagesatkean.com.

Premiere Stages is made possible in part through funding from W. John Bauer and Nancy Boucher, The New Jersey State Council on the Arts, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The Northfield Bank Foundation, The Wallerstein Foundation for Geriatric Life Improvement, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, The Union Foundation, E.J. Grassmann Trust, The New Jersey Theatre Alliance, Investors Foundation, The Union County HEART Grant, Les Malamut Art Gallery, Actors' Equity Foundation, and through the generous support of individual patrons and local organizations. Discover Jersey Arts is our marketing partner. Visit www.JerseyArts.com for more information about other arts programming happening around the Garden State.

Photo: Kean University alumnus Tariq Hamami (center) received the 2019 Bauer Boucher Playwriting Award, named for longtime Premiere Stages donors Nancy Boucher (left) and W. John Bauer (right). Photo by Ian Alfano.

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