The fest is presented in partnership with the Indo-American Arts Council. All play readings are free and open to the public.

Off-Broadway veteran O'Connell joins Heisler (Everything Will Be Different), and Dundas (Obie, Good as New) in the Civil War-era romance The Bridegroom of Blowing Rock by Catherine Trieschmann. The play won the Weissberger Award.

Tony Award winner Cooper (The Life) performs in Dance of the Holy Ghosts: A Play on Memory by Marcus Gardley, a poetic drama about an African-American family, previously produced at Yale Repertory Theatre.

Jensen (co-author, The Exonerated) appears in Neighbourhood Upside Down, a comedic satire from Croatia by Nina Mitrovic.

All events take place at The Lark Studio 939 Eighth Avenue (between 55th & 56th Streets) Room 204, 2nd Floor. To learn more about the Lark, and its complete festival schedule, visit www.larktheatre.org.

The Festival will also showcase the work of such directors as Jeremy Cohen, associate artistic director of Hartford Stage; poet-performer Daniel Beaty (Emergence-See at the Public); and Gia Forakis (Michael John Garces' Acts of Mercy at the Rattlestick).

Playwrights' Week is currently the only festival of its kind in New York City, focusing exclusively on developing new voices for the theatre through specifically targeted outreach efforts, growth opportunities for playwrights and theatre artists, and organized forums for community discussion.

Hundreds of scripts are submitted each year through the Lark's open submission policy. Finalists are chosen through a rigorous process involving the Lark's Literary Wing, comprised of dozens of professional theatre artists and community members. The final eight plays were selected by a group of esteemed industry professionals including Kamilah Forbes (Hip-Hop Theatre Festival), Colin Greer (playwright and president of New World Foundation), Morgan Jenness (agent, Abrams Artists), Rajiv Joseph (playwright), Rob Urbinati (new works director, Queens Theatre in the Park), and John Eisner (Lark producing director).

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The Lark Play Development Center "provides American and international playwrights with indispensable resources to develop their work." The Lark "nurtures artists at all stages in their careers, inviting them to freely express themselves in a supportive and rigorous environment. It is a home for an emerging artistic community committed to reshaping how we see and experience the world."

Leading the organization are producing director John Clinton Eisner, managing director Michael Robertson, and artistic program director Daniella Topol.