In the sweltering heat of a summer's evening, director Deborah Starling-Pollard ran her actors through their paces in the play, "Two for One, An Urban Drama."

"Ride that applause and hold your pose," she told three youngsters who'd just run through their scene for a third time during rehearsal at the Robert E. Williams Park recreation center in the Hill District. "That's very, very, very good."

Ms. Starling-Pollard, a social worker and member of the Kuntu Repertory Theatre, wrote the violence prevention play to bring communities together to find solutions to violence plaguing the world and parts of the African-American community.

"We've marched about it, we've cried about it," said Ms. Starling-Pollard of Green Tree. "It's been going on a long time."

The play focuses on two brothers, one entrenched in the drug trade and the other with college aspirations, but still tied to the streets because of his brother.

"Two for One, An Urban Drama" will be performed free on Saturday from 3 to 5 p.m. on the outdoor stage at West Park on the North Side. An audience talk-back session will follow the performance with discussion leaders Paradise Gray of One Hood, the anti-violence coalition, and Debra Germany of Divine Intervention Ministries.

Ms. Starling-Pollard started writing the play in 1996, when gang violence was on the rise in Pittsburgh.

"Those little gangs were forming, and it was disheartening to me because I knew prior to that we weren't plagued with that kind of violence," says Ms. Starling-Pollard, also a lead vocalist and songwriter with the reggae group, The Flow Band.

She set aside the play for a time.

"It seemed like things were getting better and maybe I [wouldn't] have to do this," she said. "Three years ago, I picked it back up and started thinking about all of my friends and 75 percent of them have lost sons to gun violence."

The sea of hopelessness that some young black men find themselves in can lead to their involvement with illegal firearms and drugs, Ms. Starling-Pollard said.

"When you give them an opportunity and show them a spark of hope, it changes their whole perspective," she says. "There are barriers between generations, and we're not building a feeling of understanding between my generation and the younger people."

The play's themes strike close to home for Ms. Germany, who will co-moderate the post-performance discussion. She lost her son to drug dealing and gun violence in 2001. That's why she wanted to be involved with the play. She started Divine Intervention Ministries to help incarcerated people who want to turn their lives around.

"We try to provide opportunities when they're in prison and try to connect them with an organization that will help them get a job or [into] school," Ms. Germany says.

Ms. Starling-Pollard hopes young people and their parents will be out in force to see the production.

Dorian Asque, who plays Shemar Wright, one of the two brothers, loves the show.

"It's excellent," says Mr. Asque, 18, of Penn Hills. "It's keeping me away from all the negativity, and I'm doing something positive with my life."

Fred Quinn, who plays Dante Wright, the college-bound brother, thinks the play is a wonderful opportunity.

"It really is shedding light on the violence in the community and the community needs to see what's going on and really needs to change it," says Mr. Quinn, 17, of the Hill District.

Ms. Starling-Pollard, who often uses young people and seniors in her plays, even drafted a few young men for the show from the basketball court at Robert E. Williams Park, where rehearsals are held.

"I feel great about the message it presents," said Marquis Fussell Sr., 28, of Polish Hill. "I have kids and it's a positive message for them to see me doing this."

Teri Bridgett, who plays Danielle Wright -- the mother of the two brothers -- considers the play a call to action.

"I'm excited to be a part of it because it's dealing with what's happening right now and the black genocide of our young people, especially young black males," said Ms. Bridgett, 60, of East Liberty.

Cynthia Thrift, who plays Sheila, the mother of a crime victim in the show, agreed.

"It's a play that exposes the devastation and trauma that the whole community experiences," says Ms. Thrift, 57, of Plum. "It's not just a black experience. If it affects us, it affects everyone."