The event, an Ojai Playwrights Conference benefit, will take place Jan. 17 at 6 PM at the Matilija Junior High School Auditorium in Ojai, California.

The works being read include L.A. and I Don't Know What I'm Doing by Donald Margulies; Waiting for the Mermaid, Red Coat and Welcome to the Moon by John Patrick Shanley; The Zig-Zag Woman by Steve Martin; The Grand Design by Susan Miller; and Canker Sores and Other Distractions and For Whom The Southern Belle Tolls by Christopher Durang.

Premium ticket buyers will be able to attend a gala dinner with the cast and celebrity auction at the nearby restaurant Azu following the reading directed by Robert Egan.

Founded in 1996, the OPC is set in the Ojai countryside, a retreat-like environment away from nearby Los Angeles that provides a place where scribes work in-house on their developing plays. The intensive workshop ends with the public readings.

The 2003 conference included Jon Robin Baitz's Chinese Friends, Lee Blessing's Flag Day, Joe Loya's The Man Who Outgrew His Prison Cell, Peter Morris' Pro Bono Publico and Charlayne Woodard's Flight. General admission — which includes the reading, hors d'oeuvres and beverages — is priced at $50 while the premium ticket — which also includes the gourmet dinner and live auction — can be purchased for $200 by calling (805) 640-0400. For more information on the OPC, visit www.ojaiplaywrightsconf.org.