A Scream, Malignance, Scarcity and Bad for the Jews sound like scenes from a Christopher Guest dramatization of the Old Testament, but they're actually four new plays getting their debut in Philly this weekend.

PlayPenn, Philadelphia's only professional play development organization, is showcasing the work of four developing playwrights. Artistic director Paul Meshejian and several committees of readers narrowed the original group of 125 nominated playwrights down to 10 writers. Four finalists were selected to participate in the 2006 PlayPenn New Play Development Conference, during which they get to work with Philadelphia actors, directors and designers. And when Gina Barnett, Eric Pfeffinger, Lucy Thurber and Peter Morris are not onstage rehearsing with their team, they're rewriting.

The intense process, explains Meshejian, is designed for "the development of new work, not the production of new work. It's not much about providing entertainment to people. It's more about giving writers a chance to measure how an audience responds to their work." While the plays will have lighting design and some aspects of a polished production, the performances will be staged readings. "It could be anything from actors sitting behind a table, to actors on their feet, but it's always with script in hand."

While it isn't PlayPenn's intention to help rising stars ascend, three plays shown in last year's inaugural conference went on to theatrical debuts in other major cities in the U.S. and England. Last year the theater was packed, and this year Meshejian expects an even larger crowd. And yes, you can reserve tickets.