Spinning Into Butter

"Spinning Into Butter" is a play by American playwright Rebecca Gilman. The play debuted at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in 1999. It was later produced at the Lincoln Center and the Royal Court Theatre, [http://www.curtainup.com/spinningintobutter.html Review of Spinning Into Butter at CurtainUp!] ] was named one of the best plays of 1999 by "Time", and eventually became the third-most-produced play of the 2000-2001 season. ["The Season's," " [http://www.tcg.org/ American Theatre] ," Oct. 2001: 86.]

The play takes place at the fictional Belmont College, a mostly-white liberal arts school in Vermont. Simon Brick, one of the few African-American students, begins receiving hateful, racist notes. The all-white administration, including a dean named Sarah Daniels, scrambles to contain the problem and reassure parents that everything is under control. But Daniels, in a controversial scene, reveals her not-so-latent racism, calling blacks lazy, stupid, and scary.

The play's treatment of racism has sparked some controversy. Several productions include a forum at the end for audience members to discuss the issues raised. The well known novelist Ishmael Reed criticized the play, calling it racist and clumsy. [See "Another Day on the Front". New York: Basic Books, 2003, pg. 166.] But other critics defend the play, arguing that it exposes rather than perpetrates racism. [See, for example, Geoffrey Stacks, "Simon Wasn't There: The Sambo Strategy, Consumable Theater, and Rebecca Gilman's "Spinning into Butter"." "African American Review " 40.2 (Summer 2006): 285-97.]

The play's treatment of political and social issues in an academic context have prompted comparisons to David Mamet's play "Oleanna" (1992). [See Patrick Dorn, "'Butter' Reveals Academicians' True Colors," "Daily Camera", 22 Jan. 2002; Stanton B. Garner, Jr., "Framing the Classroom: Pedagogy, Power, "Oleanna"," "Theatre Topics" 10.1 (2000), pp. 39-52; Curt Holman, "Spin Control," "Creative Loafing", 18 May 2001; and Chris Jones, "A Beginner's Guide to Rebecca Gilman," "American Theatre," Apr. 2000, pp. 26-30.]

The play's title comes from the story of Sambo. In this famous and controversial tale, Sambo's clothes are stolen by tigers, who then begin to argue about who among them is dressed the finest. They chase each other around a tree until they spin themselves into butter, which Sambo eats with pancakes. In "Spinning into Butter", one of the characters uses this story to explain the behavior of Simon.

Characters

*Dean Sarah Daniels, "thirty-five to forty"
*Patrick Chibas, "nineteen"
*Ross Collins, "thirty-five to forty"
*Dean Burton Strauss, "fifty-five"
*Dean Catherine Kenney, "sixty"
*Mr. Meyers, "fifty
*Greg Sullivan, "twenty-one"

Premieres

The world premiere was presented by the Goodman Theatre in Chicago on May 16, 1999.
*Artistic Director: Robert Falls
*Executive Director: Roche Schulfer
*Director: Les Waters
*Set Design: Linda Buchanan
*Costumes: Birgit Rattenborg Wise
*Lighting: Robert Christen
*Sound Design and Music: Rob Milburn and Larry Schanker
*Cast: Mary Beth Fisher (Sarah), Andrew Navarro (Patrick), Jim Leaming (Ross), Robert Breuler (Dean Strauss), Mary Ann Thebus (Dean Kenney), Matt DeCaro (Mr. Meyers), and Bruch Reed (Greg).

The New York premiere was produced by the Lincoln Center Theater at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater on July 27, 2000, in association with Lincoln Center Festival 2000.
*Director: Daniel Sullivan
*Set Design: John Lee Beatty
*Costumes: Jess Goldstein
*Lighting: Brian MacDevitt
*Original Music and Sound: Dan Moses Schreier
*Cast: Hope Davis (Sarah), Jai Rodriguez (Patrick), Daniel Jenkins (Ross), Henry Strozier (Dean Strauss), Brenda Wehle (Dean Kenney), Matt DeCaro (Mr. Meyers), and Steven Pasquale (Greg). [This information comes from the published version of the play (Faber & Faber: New York, 2000), pgs. 3-4.]

Film Version

*"Main article: Spinning Into Butter (film)"A film version of the play was released in 2007. It was directed by Mark Brokaw and stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Miranda Richardson, and Beau Bridges. Parts of the film were shot at Brooklyn College and Drew University (in Madison, NJ).

References

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0469976/ Spinning Into Butter] at the [http://www.imdb.com Internet Movie Database]