New York's Signature Theatre Company, which devotes each season to the work on one seasoned playwright, is now trying to give a leg up to beginning or mid-career scribes. The company has inaugurated its Residency II Pilot Program to give up-and-coming dramatists the same chances as a Guare or a Miller.

The first beneficiary of the new program is Anthony Clarvoe, whose Walking Off the Roof is being presented by the Signature at the Theatre Row Theatre Feb. 2-28, officially opening Feb. 7. As part of the program, Clarvoe takes part in every aspect of the production of his play, including casting, design, rehearsal and dramaturgical research.

Clarvoe's previous work, which includes Ghosts and Pick Up Ax , has been performed at Denver Theatre Center, California's South Coast Repertory and the Eureka Theatre in San Francisco. The current work takes a look at four contemporary people as they discover risk, faithlessness, temptation and love.

Featured in the cast are Wendy Hoopes, Erin O'Brien, Chris Paynes Gilbert and Paul Michael Valley. Darrell Larson directs.

For information, call (212) 244-7529. -- By Robert Simonson