Premiere Stages, the professional Equity theatre in residence at Kean University, is pleased to recognize Morphology by Jillian Blevins as a Semi-Finalist for the 2026 Premiere Play Festival. Morphology rose through a competitive process to become one of 65 Semi-Finalists out of 894 submissions. The blend of styles in the play is ambitious and impressive, conveying different ways and perspectives of thinking and feeling. Our congratulations and thanks to Jillian.

The careful melding of fantasy with reality in this play is so deftly calibrated that I find it astonishing at times. We are confronted with a difficult and unaccepting real world, but the depiction is balanced with the delicate magic of Nico's reality, which he is unable to express but which we hear. I love how Nico's understanding of the life of the sea adds subtle commentary to what he understands happening in his family unit. The ending is pure magic, earned and immensely rewarding.

Jillian Blevins is a wonderful writer and this play is beautiful. I had the great honor of being in the opening night audience for the workshop production at Phillips Mill in New Hope, PA. I love the juxtaposition of heightened, stylized language exploring the neurodivergent brain and imagination with the grounded family drama realism. All three characters are very well-drawn on the page, which I suspect allowed for the actors and director to go wild and create a gripping evening of theater!