LOS ANGELES -- The Friday Sept. 8 preview performance of August Wilson's King Hedley II has been designated as Pay What You Can by the Mark Taper Forum. The first production of the Taper's 2000-2001 season, the play started previews Sept. 3 (pushed forward a day from Sept. 2), opens Sept. 14 and continues through Oct. 22. A limited number of Pay What You Can tickets will go on sale at noon on the day of the Sept. 8 performance and must be purchased in person at the Center Theatre Group box office on a cash-only basis. The tickets are subject to availability with a limit of two per person.

Directed by Marion McClinton, the cast of Hedley includes Charles Brown, Jerome Butler, Juanita Jennings, Harry Lennix, Lou Myers, Monte Russell and Mone Walton. The play is Wilson's latest in a cycle of dramas chronicling the black American experience through each decade of the 20th century.

Mark Taper Forum is located at l35 N. Grand Ave. For tickets and information call (213) 628-2772. Deaf community should call TDD (213) 680-4017. Tickets are also available on-line at www.TaperAhmanson.com