The annual Playwrights Conference, under the artistic direction of Wendy C. Goldberg, invites a handful of playwrights to its Waterford, CT, campus for several weeks each July to develop new works with a team of established directors and actors. Six plays have been selected for the 2014 component.

The selected plays include Tiger Style! by Mike Lew; I'm Gonna Pray For You So Hard by Halley Feiffer; Ugly Lies the Bone by Lindsey Ferrentino; The Imaginary Music Critic Who Doesn't Exist by David Mitchell Robinson; Icarus Burns by Christopher Oscar Peña; and Bright Half Life by Tanya Barfield.

In addition to the selected plays, playwright Samuel D. Hunter (The Whale, A Great Wilderness) will be in residence during the conference on a new play. The conference will run July 2-19.

Conference artistic director Goldberg has also announced plans to direct David Mitchell Robinson's The Imaginary Music Critic Who Doesn't Exist, while Trip Cullman will direct Halley Feiffer's I'm Gonna Pray For You So Hard.

"This was the most competitive O'Neill season yet, with over 1,200 submissions sent in to us. I am very excited to bring these six artists to the National Playwrights Conference for our 50th anniversary season. It is an incredibly dynamic and eclectic group of storytellers whose voices are at the forefront of the American theater. It is a privilege to develop their work in this, my 10th season as artistic director," Goldberg said in a statement. Tickets go on sale to the public June 11. Phone (860) 443-1238 or visit www.theoneill.org.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center was founded in 1964 and is based in Waterford, CT. Programs at the Center include the Puppetry Conference, Playwrights Conference, Critics Institute, Music Theater Conference and the National Theater Institute. The Monte Cristo Cottage, O'Neill's childhood home, is also owned and operated by the group.