The traditional tales of Africa and those developed by Africans in early America comforted and inspired the slaves of the American South. In The Folklore Project, Charlayne Woodard (In Real Life, Pretty Fire, Neat) dramatizes the stories and the community that told them. Dec. 20-22, she workshops her new piece at the Ivy Substation. At the start of the family-oriented play, a young slave boy is separated from his mother, who is sold off to another plantation. So they might comfort him, the other slaves tell the child the folk tales they've brought over Africa. Woodard recently appeared in her autobiographical In Real Life at Off-Broadway's Manhattan Theatre Club.

The Folklore Project features Bernard K. Addison, Julanne Chidi Hill, Jeanne Sakata, Michele Shay and Chris Wells accompanied by a drummer. Woodard and Corey Madden, who conceived the play, co-direct.

Tickets are $5. The Folklore Project, a production by Center Theatre Group's Performing for Los Angeles Youth (P.L.A.Y.), plays the Ivy Substation at 9070 Venice Boulevard in Culver City. For reservations, call (213) 628-2772.