Productions opening this week at Wasatch Front theaters include revivals of two melodrama comedies, a British playwright's thought-provoking drama about witch hunts 300 years ago (paralleling events today) and Tobin Atkinson's equally tantalizing probe into the questionable morality of the U.S. justice system. Also premiering is a new Brigham Young University production focusing on repercussions from the LDS Church's 1978 revelation extending the priesthood to all males in the church. And for fantasy lovers of all ages, J.R.R. Tolkien's elven masterpiece, "The Hobbit," will appear on the City Rep stage.

- VINEGAR TOM, one of British author Carl Churchill's earliest masterpieces, is being mounted by Richard Scharine of the University of Utah theater department as a UK/Utah Festival 1996 production.Churchill uses the witch hunts of 300 years ago to point out how similar scapegoats continue in the 1990s.

It begins with a man and a woman in a ditch and ends with two women hung, two more about to be and a fifth on her way to an enforced marriage. The cause of this disruption of an English provincial village is said to be witchcraft, but the real disease is fear and guilt (do these sound familiar?).

An old woman whose neighbor's cow dies after she becomes disgruntled about not receiving any charity . . . a young woman indulging her sexuality . . . a sickly mother aborting her pregnancy . . . a teenager running away rather than marrying . . . an aging woman concerned that her husband is slipping away . . . a cunning woman healing without a license . . . all of these are seen as sure signs of witchcraft in "Vinegar Tom."

According to Scharine, who is directing the piece, the events Churchill describes in her drama actually happened to women in rural England in the 1640s - and, perhaps, to as many as 9 million others over the next three centuries in both the Old and New worlds.

Churchill incorporates the Brechtian device of interrupting realistic period action with enlightening musical numbers - composed by Salt Lake musician Paul Boruff and choreographed by ballerina Teresa Volgenau - to demonstrate how situations then parallel the attitudes of today. "However beautifully sung and danced," said Scharine, "these shafts of light still ask the questions, `Who are the witches now? Would they have hanged you then?' "

Scharine's cast includes Saren Nofs-Snyder, Maxine Summers, Dean Anderson, Tommie St. Cyr, Shaela Swallow, Karen Alexander, Teresa Volgenau, Marilyn Scharine and Robin Youngberg.

Performances will be Thursday through Sunday, March 14-17, at 7:30 p.m. in the Realms of Inquiry School, 1140 S. 900 East. Tickets are $8 for adults or $5 senior citizens and students. Tickets may be reserved in advance by calling 581-5603. They will also be available at the door.

(This production was originally presented last fall in the U. of U.'s Lab Theatre. It has been selected to represent the United States at the 11th annual Festival of Drama in English later this month in Gdansk, Poland. This festival, sponsored by the British Consulate, involves theater students from throughout Poland and Eastern Europe for performances and workshops conducted by theater professionals from England, Ireland and the Netherlands. Scharine has participated in the past three festivals.)

- MODERN JUSTICE, a series of four original one-act plays written and directed by Tobin Atkinson, artistic director of Plan-B Theater Company, will be performed March 13-24.

The four plays, all involving issues dealing with the morality of our current justice system, are: "Tagger," which looks at three different perspectives of vandalism - the victim, the law and the criminal; "Blue Law," about two brothers - one in jail and the other running for political office - who manipulate each other with laws that are no longer enforced and yet are still in the legal code; "Parasite," which addresses the abortion issue without taking specific sides; and "Suing the Sun," which will also be included in a forthcoming Human Pursuits discussion series, considering whether the needs of the individual outweigh the whole of society today.

Like most Plan-B productions, none of these one-act plays provide any solid answers. Instead, they provide a springboard for discussion.

Atkinson likes plays that "become events that will affect you and change you in some way, hopefully for the better."

The cast includes Atkinson, Camila Borrero, Nancy Durrant, Angela Evans, Rachael Kimsey, Ron Levy, Zeke Totland and Jaimie Rodriguez.

Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. March 13-17 and 20-24 in the University of Utah Law School (located at University Street and Campus Drive, just south of Pioneer Memorial Theatre). Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for senior citizens, children 11 and under and students with current activity cards. Tickets can be purchased at the door or may be reserved in advance by calling 944-9361.

- THE SWORD OF ZORRO OR FROM Z TO SHINING Z, one of the most popular shows ever produced at Desert Star Playhouse, is being brought back after a five-year absence with some new plot twists and new songs.

Originally written by Peter Van Slyke, it has been updated by Norman Plate with contemporary humor. Edward J. Gryska is directing.

The cast includes Chandler Bishop as Don Diego/Zorro, KC Eldredge as Senor Santiago, Jack Drayton as the villainous Captain Ramon, Plate as hilarious Sgt. Garcia, Jerry Rapier as Bernardo, Danielle Matheson as Estrella, MariJo Eisenbraun as Marguerette and Gayle Hayes as Isabella.

Joy Davis is choreographing the post-show olio segment, which will have a "Clap Yo' Hands!" theme - a lively look at songs by Cole Porter and George Gershwin.

Sue Talmadge is musical director with scenery by Seven Nielsen.

Performances will be Mondays and Thursdays-Saturdays at 7 p.m., with additional 9:30 p.m. performances on most weekends and (depending on the demand), matinees at 3 p.m. on some Saturdays. The theater is located at 4861 S. State St., Murray.

Admission ranges from $6 to $10, with a newly implemented student discount rate of $6 for any of the 9:30 p.m. performances. All seats are reserved. The playhouse offers cabaret style seating with pizza, ice cream treats and popcorn. For reservations, call 266-7600.

- GRABNET or WE AIM TO POLICE can truly be called "an arresting comedy" (according to playwright/director Eric Jensen).

A spoof on just about every TV police drama ever, it's packed with the usual assortment of Off Broadway Theatre puns, pratfalls and sight gags. Jensen claims that the jokes race by so fast even a Photo-Cop couldn't track them.

The cast features a mix of OBT regulars and newcomers, including Jensen as ultra-straight cop Joe Thursday, with Russell Peacock and Cody K. Carlson as his fellow officers, Frank Smith and Will Gannon. Bob Bedore is back as villainous Tommy Twyce, with Jean Porter and Amber Hutchings alternating as his girlfriend, Bubbles, and Alexis Owen as Denny Fell.

Making their debuts at OBT are Debbie Zeis as the evil Granny and Matt Kellogg as wigged-out surfer dude Dween.

Frank Ackerman is designing the scenery, with Laura Bedore in charge of costumes and Sandy Jensen as assistant director.

The Off Broadway is located at 272 S. Main.

Performances will be Mondays and Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. from March 14 through April 12. All seats are reserved. Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for students and senior citizens and $5 for children 12 and under. For reservations, call 355-4628.

- FREE AT LAST, a new play by Brigham Young University graduate student Scott Livingston, will have its premiere March 13-30 in the Margetts Arena Theatre of BYU's Harris Fine Arts Center, Provo.

"Free At Last" is directed by Charles Metten of the theater faculty, and the main character, Ben, is portrayed by Abe Mills. As Abe is introduced to the church by missionaries at the University of Tennessee, he struggles with why blacks can't participate in the priesthood. Ben's friend, Cal (Hubert K. Wiggins III), who teaches black history at the university, opposes the efforts of LDS missionaries (James C. Bybee and Daniel Brierton Sharp). Metten says the play explores the dilemma of black men who believe the message of the gospel but also must accept the fact that priesthood blessings are not within reach. The play shows the impact of how the 1978 revelation about blacks and the priesthood affects five young men.

Half-price preview performances will be March 13-14, after which the drama will continue Wednesdays-Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., with one matinee at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 23.

Admission is $8 for adults, $7 for senior citizens and BYU alumni or $6 for students and BYU faculty and staff. For reservations, call 378-4322.

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- THE HOBBIT, (the stage adaptation by Markland Taylor), tells about the adventures of hobbit Bilbo Baggins and the wizard Gandalf. The beloved fantasy adventures in "Middle-Earth" include dragons and lost treasure from the pen of Oxford University scholar J.R.R. Tolkien.

Bob Lanoue is Bilbo Baggins, and the role of the wizard, Gandalf, will be played alternately by Rob Larsen and Owen Edwards. Dwarf Thorin Oakenshield will be played by Steven L. Nichol. The Wood-Elf King and the Great Goblin will be played by Keith Holland, and the Elf King Elrond will be played by Nigel James.

Joanne M. Parker is directing the City Rep production, with costume design by Terri Badham and set, lighting and property design by Nigel James. The production is considered appropriate for ages 6 and older.

Performance dates and times: Monday, Friday and Saturday evenings, March 16, 18, 22, 29, 30; April 1, 5, 8, 12, 13, 15, 19, 20, 22, 26; and May 3, 4, 10 and 11 at 7:30 p.m. Five Saturday matinees are scheduled for 2 p.m. on March 23, 30, April 6, 13 and 27. Performances for school groups are held on selected Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the run. Tickets are available at the City Rep box office (638 S. State) and are $7.50 for adults and $5.50 for children 16 and under. No babes in arms are admitted to the theater. For more information, call the box office at 532-6000.

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