UTM's Vanguard Theatre takes a bold step in addressing the hushed and hidden issues of racism and prejudice with the opening production of their powerful 2003-04 season. Rebecca Gilman's Spinning Into Butter, will run Oct. 9-12 in the Harriet Fulton Theatre.

Dean Sarah Daniels comes into a small private college in Vermont with fresh ideas and innovative thinking. In attempts to give all her students a fair shake and equal opportunities for success, using their race as an outlet for scholarships, she adds fuel to the already boiling blaze of individuals demanding to be seen as individuals instead of as members of a certain race.

Unable to connect with this desire, she must dig into her own private feelings and confront the fears she keeps hidden under her own skin.

Amidst an environment of old-fashioned thinking and forums, Sarah must attempt to understand the struggles and break down the barriers of political correctness in order to have an open dialogue about race and find the chord of anger and fear that encompasses the campus, her colleagues and her students.

The fear and lack of knowledge that sends them chasing one another's tails, running around the issues and spinning them into butter, rather than dealing with the issues directly. Director Ken Zimmerman knows this will not be an easy show for many to watch.

"Hidden racism is something that many people are affected by on a daily basis, no matter what the color of their skin," said Zimmerman.

Freshman Jennifer Hornbelt of Memphis, has the difficult task of bringing the powerful role of the self-conflicted Dean of Students to life. Michael James, sophomore from Union City, brings the frustrations of racial pigeonholing to the stage as student Patrick Chibas. Sarah's peer, Ross Collins, played by senior Jon Roos of Indianapolis, In, represents the band-aid approach to dealing with racial attitudes and prejudice. Christian Ashlar, sophomore from Martin and India Simerson, senior from Memphis, paint the portraits of reserved matriarchs Dean Burton Strauss and Dean Catherine Kinney. Brendan Lambert, sophomore from Martin, portrays student Greg Sullivan, who finally gets the discussion of race into the hands of the generation that are not going to seal their minds and don't let their fear hinder them from trying to communicate their fears and misunderstandings and deal with their attitudes directly.

Performances of Spinning Into Butter are at 8 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 9 through Saturday, Oct. 11, with a matinee performance at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 12, in the Harriet Fulton Theatre.

For tickets, call the Vanguard Theatre at 7090. Beginning Monday, Oct. 6, the box office will be open Monday through Friday from 12 to 5 p.m. and two hours before each show.

Other plays in the Vanguard Series include:

• School House Rock Live!, playing February 26-29. The pop culture phenomenon comes to Martin via the stage. The play, based on the Emmy Award-winning 1970’s Saturday morning educational cartoon will feature musical numbers, such as “Conjunction Junction” and “Just a Bill.”

•Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, April 23, 24, 30, and May 1. The play follows five bridesmaids going through “wedding hell” in an irreverant comedic romp about life, men, marriage and intimacy as seen through the eyes of five different, but very similar women.