Craig Lucas' new play, This Thing of Darkness, co-scripted with David Schulner, will be read as a part of Portland Center Stage's Just Add Water Festival July 28-29 in the Winningstad Theatre.

Lucas, a Tony winner for Prelude to a Kiss, teams up with Schulner, whose credits include Isaac and An Infinite Ache, set for its world premiere next season at Connecticut's Long Wharf. In Darkness, the two men look at six well-acquainted people who meet for the summer in a New England cabin. The title comes from a line in Shakespeare's The Tempest: "Two of these fellows you/Must know and own; /this thing of darkness I/Acknowledge mine."

This Thing of Darkness will be read 8 PM on July 29. Chris Coleman, aristic director of Portland Center Stage, directs.

Also to be read are Itamar Moses' Outrage, directed by Coleman and Lauren Gunderson's Parts They Call Deep (July 28) and Joseph Fisher's Tundra, directed by Neel Keller (4 PM July 29).

The acting company features Coleman, Winslow Corbett, Kevin Corstange, Chris Harder, Theo Harness, Linda Williams Janke, JoAnn Johnson, Susannah Mars, Michael Newcomer, Michael O'Connell, Laura Pierce, Ted Roisum, Holly Spencer, Brian Thompson and Steve Wilkerson. Tickets are $10 or $30 for a festival pass. The Winningstad is located in the Portland Center for the Performing Arts at 1111 Southwest Broadway at Main. For reservations, call (503) 274-6588.

In the past, the Just Add Water festival has read Kira Obolensky's Lobster Alice, Sue Mach's The Shadow Testament and Peter Gaiten's Flesh and Blood. The latter will be produced in Portland Oct. 30-Nov. 18 with a New York production to follow in the spring.

— By Christine Ehren