by Rita Charleston

The story unfolds at Belmont, a fictional, mainly white liberal arts college in Vermont. Suddenly, Sarah Daniels, Dean of Students, finds herself faced with an explosive situation after one of the handful of African-American students at the school reports receiving hate mail. As threats and abrasive confrontations among faculty and students multiply, the narrative tracks Sarah's attempts to navigate a maze of problems while soul-searching for political correctness.

Jen Allegra, a graduate of George Washington University with a B.A. in Theater, who recently moved from University City to Mt. Airy, plays Daniels in “Spinning Into Butter.” The play, written by Rebecca Gilman and directed by Catherine Pappas, continues at Stagecrafters, 8130 Germantown Ave., through Feb. 17.

“Sarah enjoys working with the students, helping them get scholarships, especially one particular African-American student. Sarah is a very smart woman but becomes frustrated in trying to deal with the administration and how they approach particular problems concerning race,” Allegra explained.

But portraying Sarah has presented their own challenges for the actress. “I don’t think I’m anything like this character, and that’s been one of the struggles I’ve faced in doing the role,” Allegra said. “Sarah doesn’t like feeling vulnerable and tries to keep people at a distance. But I’m more touchy-feely, so portraying her detachment is one of the most difficult things for me. However, I think every person who sees this show will find an element of themselves in it, whether they like it or not. And I’m really no different. At the end of the day I do see some of myself in Sarah. But do I like it? No!”

Another challenge Allegra faces is the enormity of the role. “Sarah's on stage almost the entire time of the play. She has to go from scene to scene without a break, and I have to continue to make her interesting for the audience throughout. And that can be difficult.”

Deciding to become a performer wasn’t difficult at all for Allegra. Her mother Mary was a singer and theater performer who introduced her young daughter to the theater when she was just a child. In fact, said Allegra, “Theater became a sort of family affair, and my mother was definitely instrumental in helping me decide where I wanted to be today.”

Allegra, 46 and a single mother of two, has helped interest her own children in theater over the years. Today, her son, Michael, a student at New York University, has put most of that aside and is studying English and Math. But her daughter, Claire, who attended Fairleigh Dickinson University for a time, is still interested in theater productions, mainly at Stagecrafters, where her mother performs most of her duties.

“Although I’ve performed at other theaters, I have stayed pretty loyal to Stagecrafters,” said Allegra. “That’s one of the reasons I moved several years ago from University City to Mt. Airy. I wanted to be close to the theater. But it's more than that. I feel like the neighborhood is a great cultural, racial and economic mix. It has a suburban feeling but with close proximity to the city so I can walk to lots of places. I really enjoy the area a lot.”

When Allegra is not involved with theater, she spends her time as a senior product manager with a digital heath company located in center city. However, asked to describe herself, Allegra said she thinks of herself primarily as an actor who also loves doing some costume designing. “That’s a nice way for me to stay involved in the theater, even when I'm not acting. I’m also on the board at Stagecrafters, so that keeps me involved too.”

And she plans to stay involved. “I love being able to have a creative outlet, a passion I can submerge myself in. I love the whole process and working with other creative people. I get a lot of energy from it all, and seeing the whole process evolve is wonderful.”

For ticket information, call 215- 247-8881.