Premiere Stages, the professional Equity theatre in residence at Kean University, is pleased to recognize SPEAK FREELY by Andrea Fiest Stein as a Semi-Finalist for the 2022 Premiere Play Festival. SPEAK FREELY rose through a competitive selection process conducted by Premiere staff and a panel of outside theatre professionals to become one of 35 semifinalists out of 655 submissions. The panel was particularly impressed by the thematic breadth of the play and the balance found between everything that’s addressed, from McCarthyism to antisemitism to women’s rights and more. This is a tightly constructed mystery with strong characters. Congratulations to Andrea.

The Jewish Plays Project recommends SPEAK FREELY as a Semi-Finalist for the 11th annual Jewish Playwriting Contest. Our community of readers appreciated this story of assimilation, social aspiration and inherited trauma. This play has strong characterization and builds tension with not knowing who to trust, as well as slowly building the anxiety as characters never get the full truth from loved ones. SPEAK FREELY rose to the top of 20 out of 250 plays and we hope this play swiftly finds opportunities to reach new audiences.

During the most intense years of the cold war, a young Jewish couple struggles with their career and family ambitions, as well as where they “fit in” in society. Their world is complicated when FBI agents ask to use the basement of their apartment to observe the neighbors. This fast-paced play is compelling and explores interesting thematic questions: How far will you go to get what you want? What will you forgive in others and in yourself? Well done.