Frank Wood, Johanna Day, Brian Murray and More Join O'Neill's 2013 National Conference, Opening Today

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center presents the 2013 National Playwrights Conference. Under the leadership of Artistic DirectorWendy C. Goldberg, the Conference will run from today, July 3 to July 27 and develop eight new plays.

Featured actors include Tony Award winner and television star Frank Wood; JohAnna Day, who earned a Tony Award nomination in David Auburn's Proof; and American Theatre Hall of Fame member and multiple Tony Award nominee Brian Murray.

"I am thrilled at the return of many alumni actors, and also welcome spectacular new talent to the National Playwrights Conference," comments Ms. Goldberg. "All of these actors will help us immensely as we work through the development of these selected plays. We are grateful to have such a talented and professional cast as such an important part of the O'Neill process."

Conference selections include:

The Solid Sand Below by Martín Zimmerman, public staged readings July 3 and 4, will feature Scott Drummond, Ryan King, Brian Quijada, Terrell Donnell Sledge, and Felix Solis.

Samsara by Lauren Yee, public staged readings July 5 and 6, will feature Mike Doyle, Daiva Deupree, Bhavesh Patel, Lipica Shah, and Phillip Taratula.

A Great Wilderness by Samuel D. Hunter, public staged readings July 10 and 11, will feature JohAnna Day, Jon Devries, Christine Estabrook, Aaron Simon Gross,Tasha Lawrence, and Brian Murray.

Little Children Dream of God by Jeff Augustin, public staged readings July 12 and 13, will feature Damien Bailey, Tina Benko, Jeremy Bobb, Duane Boutté, Ashley Bryant, Mateo Gomez, Jordan Mahome, and Angela Robinson.

The Oregon Trail by Bekah Brunstetter, public staged readings July 17 and 18, will feature Ronete Levenson, Emily Louise Perkins, Laura Ramadei, James Lloyd Reynolds, Alec Shaw, and Shayna Small.

All the Roads Home by Jen Silverman, public staged readings July 19 and 20, will feature Hannah Cabell, Christy Pusz, Makela Spielman, and Joe Tippett.

Evanston: A Rare Comedy by Michael Yates Crowley, public staged readings July 24 and 25, will feature Anna Margaret Hollyman, Eva Kaminsky, Ronete Levenson, Crystal Lucas-Perry, Kate McCluggage, James Lloyd Reynolds, and Will Rogers.

Lost Lake by David Auburn, public staged readings July 26 and 27, will feature Eisa Davis and Frank Wood.

Cast full biographies are available online.

All performances take place at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, 305 Great Neck Road, Waterford, CT 06385. Schedule is subject to change. Tickets for the National Playwrights Conference performances may be purchased online at www.theoneill.org or through the box office at (860) 443-1238.

Founded in 1964, the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center is the country's preeminent organization dedicated to the development of new works and new voices for American theater. In the bold tradition of its namesake Eugene O'Neill - four-time Pulitzer Prize Winner and America's only playwright to win the Nobel Prize in Literature - the O'Neill has been home to more than 1,000 new works for the stage and to more than 2,500 emerging artists. Scores of projects developed at the O'Neill have gone on to full production at other theaters around the world, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, and major regional theaters.

Recipient of a 2010 Tony Award for Regional Theatre and 1979 Tony Award for Theatrical Excellence, O'Neill programs include the National Playwrights Conference, National Music Theater Conference,National Critics Institute, National Puppetry Conference, Cabaret & Performance Conference, and National Theater Institute (NTI). NTI offers intensive theater training programs for academic credit, including the Moscow Art Theater Semester (MATS), a semester of study abroad, and six-week summer program Theatermakers.

The O'Neill owns and operates the Monte Cristo Cottage as a museum open to the public. The childhood summer home of Eugene O'Neill, the Cottage is a National Historic Landmark.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos

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