St. Francis College Professor Kathryn Grant's play, The Good Counselor, enjoyed a successful run under the lights this summer at Premiere Stages at Kean University. (Read the
New York Times Review)
The Good Counselor won this year’s Premiere Stages Playwriting Award, selected from more than 300 entries, and also won the prestigious Jerry Kaufman Award in Playwriting. A feature of the Premiere Stages award is that the winning play is developed, produced and premiered within a year of receiving the honor.
“This play began as my dissertation at Drew University,” said Professor Grant who teaches Theater courses in the Communications Department at St. Francis. “It is thrilling that it is now going to be seen up on its feet with great actors, supported by a brilliant design team and led by the wonderful director, John Wooten of Premiere Stages.”
Professor Grant has written several plays including: The Wound of Love, Aliyah and Handicapped People in Their Formal Attire which were performed at such venues as Penguin Rep, Provincetown Rep, The John Houseman Theater and The Actors Studio.
The Good Counselor is a new drama about a chosen son's quest for truth. A bright, young public defender, hounded by his community and haunted by his past, struggles to defend two neglectful mothers: one his client, the other his own. A thought-provoking and beautifully written play, The Good Counselor literally prompts the audience to serve as the jury in determining what it means to be a good parent.
Those who come early to the performance had the chance to sit in the jury box and hear opening and closing arguments, bringing them literally, inside the production.
The play premiered on July 15 and ran through August 1.
Attached Photo: Professor Grant working with a St. Francis student before the production of The Antigone Project, which she directed.