The Summer New Play Festival, which, under different titles, formats and scope and with occasional hiccups, has been sponsored by Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama since 1989, will return the next two weekends with single staged readings of six new plays.

The playwrights are alumni and students in CMU's dramatic writing program, and the plays are considered works in progress.

Festival producer Rob Ripley makes the point that audience feedback is an important part of the new play development process. Each staged reading will be followed by a moderated response session.

Admission is free. The 2004 Summer New Play Festival is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

The schedule

All shows are in the Helen Wayne Rauh Theatre, Purnell Center, CMU campus, at 8 p.m., followed by audience feedback. Tickets are free and are available at 7:30 p.m. at the Purnell Center box office, 412-268-2407. The following descriptions are provided by CMU:

Thursday: "The Hemlock Cycle" by Giacundo Trevellini, directed by Terry Brino-Dean. For some things, everything is sacrificed.

Friday: "The Home for Lost Boys" by Craig Weiner, directed by Laura Gross. An orphan travels to his ancestral home only to find three young brothers living there with no plans to leave.

Next Saturday: "The Chapman Play" by Kirby Fields, directed by Kathryn Moroney. On the night before he assassinates John Lennon, Mark David Chapman relives scenes from his life.

July 15: "Twelve" by Sallie L. Patrick, directed by Heather Arnet. Turning 12 means Mei must leave the orphanage where she was raised and go into the world. She enlists the help of a mystical Chinese dragon.

July 16: "Toils & Snares" by Kyle T. Wilson, directed by Denise Pullen. Two sisters in the City of Angels face the tumult of addiction recovery, missed callbacks and Protestant priests.

July 17: "Brother's Game" by Sloan MacRae, directed by Carlos Armesto. A man comes home to do some hunting; all that stands in his way are the weather, a suspicious game warden and his own brother.