Premiere Stages, the professional Equity theatre company in residence at Kean University, is pleased to recognize The Red Man as a Semi-Finalist for the 2025 Premiere Play Festival. The Red Man rose through a competitive selection conducted by Premiere staff and an external panel of professionals to become distinguished among 805 submissions. The panel was impressed by the play’s strong sense of mystery, infused with supernatural elements and humor. Our congratulations and thanks to JuCoby.

This play captures the unsettling sensations of experiencing dreams and nightmares better than anything I've read in a while. It's eerie, steeped in death but surging with life, particularly in the central relationships. I love the way it pulls hope out of a world drenched in sorrow and loss. The stage directions are evocative, helping us imagine how glorious this piece would be fully staged.

'The Red Man' is an extraordinary play, and a wildly entertaining read. The characters pop and crackle with gorgeously-crafted, impressively lively dialogue and real storytelling electricity. I love Johnson's writing so much, and that includes his approach to stage directions, which read like poetry and are frequently as stunning and beautiful as the story itself.