A gorgeous play about faith and how it impacts people differently. Need to see this produced. Lots of opportunities for stage magic.

A beautifully crafted, inventive, and highly theatrical exploration of faith, religion, family, and healing (of various kinds). The tight focus on Mary and Johnny allows them to be supremely complex and fully realized individual characters with a nuanced and multi-faceted sibling relationship. Big existential questions about God, the existence of a higher power, faith, the creation of the universe, and their intersection with organized religion are probed with depth and subtlety and a lack of judgment or preconceived notions. Some heady conversations, for sure, but it all moves briskly and, at times, humorously, until its potent, poignant ending.

Premiere Stages, the professional Equity theatre in residence at Kean University, is pleased to recognize “and thou shalt be healed” by Benjamin Benne as a Semi-Finalist for the 2023 Premiere Play Festival. “and thou shalt be healed” rose through a competitive selection process conducted by Premiere staff and a panel of outside theatre professionals to become one of 40 Semi-Finalists out of 701 submissions. The panel was particularly impressed by the intimate, complex relationships which authentically evoke larger existential questions. Our congratulations and thanks to Benjamin.