‘Schoolyard’ Comes On Strong for a Reason

“Schoolyard,” a drama by playwright Lynn Manning about a gang war that takes innocent lives, “sends a message to every individual who’s gangbanging, or doing something wrong or criminal,” said executive producer and actor Nino Cappuccino, who plays a lead role in the production.

It says, “You have to accept your responsibility [for what happens] because of your bad actions. You’ve got to pay the price if you’re going to play the game.”

The anti-violence drama, which began touring secondary schools and church and youth groups last year, is being co-presented by Cappuccino’s Los Angeles-based independent record company Paper Chase Entertainment and Watts Village Theater Company with a professional adult cast and rap group Watts Theory Assassins. It will run at W.L.C.A.C. The Center from Friday through Sunday.

The play was written by Manning in response to increasing episodes of urban gun violence, and was initially done with a youth cast. It centers around two rival gang members with no regard for life and no sense of purpose, other than the desire to kill each other. During their violent confrontation, however, several young children are caught in the cross-fire while playing at school.

The harrowing journey that brings the pair to a realization of the full impact of their actions and the grief and horror that they have caused includes a little girl’s funeral, a spirit named “Street Soldier” and their own parents.

“It’s not your stereotypical gangbanging theater,” Cappuccino said. “It’s a powerful, emotional piece, with a really strong message that’s directed to all ages, including adults.”

Cappuccino said that when Manning and director Quentin Drew brought him the script, it resonated because his record company’s mission is to foster positive change and growth in the community. That includes helping his rap and hip-hop artists, some of whom are former gang members and ex-convicts, “to look forward to something in life and become mentors and role models to other youngsters.”

His company’s current project is an animated video production for children with an anti-violence message in a hip-hop nursery rhyme format.

* “Schoolyard,” W.L.C.A.C. The Center, 10950 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles. Friday, 5 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 2 and 5 p.m. $10; students with school I.D., $6; children ages 5 to 12, $5.

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Get Creative: Learn the hula, bang a drum, make a doll, hear some lively bluegrass or Scottish bagpipes--there are scads of creative activities on tap at the Craft and Folk Art Museum’s first-ever, not-for-kids-only “Once Upon a Time” series of three free weekend family festivals, each Saturday through Aug. 28.

Each festival has its own themed folk art and traditional performances and workshops, beginning with “Shakers, Rattles, Bells & Clackers,” featuring “African Tales,” “Urban Rainsticks,” “Ceramic Shard Painting,” “Mandala Workshop” and “Samoan Clothing Design.” There will be Native American Shamanic drumming and audience-participatory Afro-Cuban percussion.

In the “Glitter, Sequins & All That Shines” festival on Aug. 21, families can try making African dolls, wearable art and Haitian-style wall hangings, and sample workshops in “Necklaces and Bangles From Recycled Objects,” “Samoan Clothing,” “Traditional Hat Flowers” and “Victorian-Style Pins.” Take a musical break and watch the Grey Eagle bluegrass duo, with John Schlocker on five-string banjo and Bob Applebaum on mandolin.

The series winds up with “Games, Stories, Sticks & Stones” on Aug. 28, with a performance by storyteller Michael D. McCarty, an introduction to the Hawaiian hula and the Scottish bagpipes, plus workshops “Making and Learning How to Play Pickup Sticks,” “Papel Picado,” and “Red Work” and “Japanese Susachico” needlework.

* “Once Upon a Time” (Los Angeles Craft and Folk Art Museum, 5814 Wilshire Blvd., Museum Row, Los Angeles): “Shakers, Rattles, Bells & Clackers” (Saturday), “Glitter, Sequins & All That Shines” (Aug. 21), “Games, Stories, Sticks & Stones” (Aug. 28). Times: 11 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Ends Aug. 28. Free. (323) 937-4230.