Actress-writer Charlayne Woodard's Pretty Fire, a celebration of her African-American family, will end out at the La Jolla Playhouse Aug. 29 following a run that began July 23.

The one-woman Pretty Fire premiered at The Fountainhead Theater in Los Angeles in 1992 and has played regionally ever since. In it, three generations of a family are seen in five vignettes that take Woodard from her premature birth to her first taste of stardom, as an 11-year-old church choir soloist. Woodard grew up to star in Broadway's Ain't Misbehavin', which earned her a Tony Award nomination.

She's appeared in Twelfth Night at the Public Theater and The Good Person of Setzuan at the La Jolla Playhouse, in addition to many other roles.

Neat, her sequel to Pretty Fire, played at Manhattan Theatre Club, Seattle Repertory Theatre and the Mark Taper Forum.

The Seattle Repertory Theatre will offer the world premiere of Woodard's new piece, Stories, Nov. 29, 1999-Jan. 15, 2000, in the Rep's Leo K Theatre. In it, she'll bring to life the characters she encountered as a young actress in Manhattan. Daniel Sullivan directs. Another Woodard solo show, Neat, told of her growing up in the 1960s.

Pretty Fire plays at the La Jolla Playhouse's smaller space, the Weiss Forum. Official opening was July 28.

For La Jolla information, call (619) 550-1010.

-- By Kenneth Jones