Lynn Manning's autobioigraphical drama Weights, the Taper, Too 2001 kick-off production, finishes its run at Los Angeles' Actor's Gang April 15. The one-man drama starring Manning began performances March 23. Robert Egan (Closer, Arcadia) directs.

In Weights, Manning talks about the last thing he ever saw — literally, but happily, not figuratively — the barrel of a .32 automatic. Throughout the piece, he recounts his life before and after that event, growing up in South Central L.A. and evolves from painter to poet when his eyesight is stolen by a gunshot wound.

Manning is a Drama-Logue and Ovation Award winner. His plays include Private Battle, Central Avenue Chalk Circle, On the Brink and Visitations. Manning is in his third year as an artist-in-residence with the Mark Taper Forum's Other Voices Project, a theatre program for the disabled and visually impaired.

The rest of the Taper, Too 2001 season follows:

Rice Boy by Sunil Kuruvilla (April 21-May 13)
Good Thing by Jessica Goldberg (May 19-June 9)
The Circumference of a Squirrel by John S. Walch (June 15-July 1) Tickets are $12-$20. The Actor's Gang is located on 6209 Santa Monica Boulevard at El Centro. For reservations, call (213) 628-2772.

— By Christine Ehren