A month of great plays

Apparently, July is National Picnic Month. And it’s National Baked Bean Month. And it’s National Cell Phone Courtesy Month.

But around here, it’s Play Month, since July is when the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford hosts readings of dramas developed at its illustrious National Playwrights Conference.

This year’s readings start Wednesday, July 3, and continue through July 27.

First up is “Death of the Republic by Tony and Pulitzer nominated writer Craig Lucas. (His previous works include “Prelude to a Kiss” and “The Light in the Piazza.”) “Death of the Republic” is, according to the O’Neill, a provocative play that “dramatizes the passionate intellectual relationship between a moral philosopher and his finest pupil — and what happens when someone seems to want what they should not.” The performance is at 8:15 p.m. July 3.

Next up are Zayd Dohrn’s “The Humanities” (7:15 p.m. July 5 and 6), about the fallout from a political provocateur’s invitation to speak at a college; and Charly Evon Simpson’s “it’s not a trip it’s a journey” (8:15 p.m. July 10 and 11), in which four pals take a road trip, and the play is “about tumbleweed, friendship, being black, and needing to soothe something you don’t have the words for.”

Coming up later on are: George Brant’s “Tender Age,” 7:15 p.m. July 12 and 13; Anna Ziegler’s “Antigones,” 8:15 p.m. July 17 and 18; Tearrance Chisholm’s “Black Dick,” 7:15 p.m. July 19 and 20; Kimber Lee’s “Untitled (Expletive) M*ss S**gon Play,” 8:15 p.m. July 24 and 25; and Laura Neill’s “Winter People,” 7:15 p.m. July 26 and 27.

If you’ve never been to the O’Neill before, treat yourself and go. If you have been before, well, I’m sure I don’t have to encourage you to return. National Playwrights Conference, July 3-27, Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, 305 Great Neck Road, Waterford; $30; (860) 443-1238, www.theoneill.org.