FACES ‘94: More Names to Be Reckoned With in the Performing Arts : STAGE : Cheryl L. West

Cheryl L. West’s “Jar the Floor,” a play about four generations of African American women, will finally arrive in Southern California on March 19 at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego--after eight productions elsewhere throughout the United States.

It’s only one of several plays that are bringing attention, productions, awards and Hollywood deals to this Champaign, Ill.-based writer.

The Old Globe also plans to do West’s “Puddin ‘n Pete,” about a divorced couple who remarry, later in 1994.

The theater’s artistic director Jack O’Brien calls the 37-year-old former social worker “a major voice” with “a head full of plays.” Meanwhile, a three-way co-production of her latest play, “Holiday Heart,” opens Friday at Syracuse Stage and will then move to Cleveland Play House and Seattle Repertory Theatre.

For Hollywood, West is working on a screenplay for Oprah Winfrey’s production company, and Spike Lee has the movie option on “Before It Hits Home,” her first major play.

It examined AIDS within a black family and attracted some flak in the process. But West refers to critics of her portrayals of black characters as “the positive police.”