(l- r) Robin Gottlieb, Joe Laney, Gene Aimone

Trustus Theatre is bringing their challenging Black Box offering, White People, back to Columbia.

White People opens in the Trustus Black Box on January 23 at 8pm, and it runs through January 31. Tickets are $10 and seating is limited.

White People follows three Caucasian characters: a New York college professor, a North Carolina housewife, and a Midwestern law firm executive. Through heart- wrenching confessions, these three wrestle with guilt, prejudice, and the price they and their children must pay for their actions.

Robin Gottlieb plays Mara Lynn Doddson, a mother from North Carolina who has a special needs child. Doddson embodies the resentment of a working class that has seen "their" jobs taken by immigrants.

Joe Laney brings life to the troubled college professor, Alan Harris. Professor Harris, the seemingly liberal scholar, finds his openmindedness confronted both by a traumatic event he procrastinates describing, and the wonderment of his most inspiring student, who is "black" or, as he quickly amends, "African-American."

Gene Aimone returns as Martin Bahmueller; a lawyer who has moved to St. Louis, and who is of the class that has escaped the cities to be, as he puts it, "in a community of people who look like me."

The stories careen towards a conclusion that leave the characters discovering the reasons and repercussions for their actions.

" White People is an important show," said Director Larry McMullen. "It voices many unspoken opinions and beliefs and allows us to turn the mirror of racial issues towards

America's majority." White People creates an atmosphere that allows audiences to converse and make discoveries with one another, which in turn helps us understand each other a little better.

Trustus Theatre is located on Lady Street, behind the Gervais St. Publix.

For more information call the box office Tuesdays through Saturdays 1- 6 pm at 803-254-9732 or visit www.trustus.org.