The Cleveland Play House's 2001 Next Stage Festival, which began with the world premiere of Sandra Perlman's Jocasta, will include two world premieres, a workshop and four readings.

Historically, the Cleveland Play House has premiered works by such authors as William Saroyan, Tennessee Williams, Arthur Miller and Pulitzer Prize winner, Paul Zindel. Furthering this tradition, artistic director Peter Hackett began Cleveland's new plays festival in 1995 and has committed the company to staging full productions of selected works from each festival.

Works are first included in the festival, and then selected for staging according to a variety of criteria.

One of this year's highlights is Mike O'Malley's Searching for Certainty, a co-production between Cleveland Play House and the Araca Group (The Vagina Monologues, The Laramie Project). The play will be workshopped in the festival and is earmarked for an Off-Broadway run this year.

Following the world premiere of Seth Greenland's Jerusalem (through April 8), Cleveland will conduct the workshop for O'Malley's Searching for Certainty (April 3-4 and April 6-8). The festival readings include a second Seth Greenland piece, Life's Too Short (March 24-25) and Cleveland Play House associate Murphy Guyer's satire, Coming of Age in Samoa (March 31 and April 1).

—By Murdoch McBride