Customer Reviews

Spinning into Butter: A Play

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Rebecca Gilman is a true dramatist of ideas, and hence very adept at pulling the rug out from under an audience's feet. In "Spinning Into Butter" she subverts the otherwise smooth workings of current American identity politics with her stage writer's sure instinct that individuals, circumstances and motives alter cases. Though much of the published commentary on the play singles out merely one liberal's "confession" of racism, it is fairer to the play, I think, to recognize that the dramatist sees all her characters in their different ways as racists, those who arbitrarily privilege themselves or other members of formerly oppressed or ignored groups as much as those who covertly oppose them. In such an environment, the playgoer finally has to ask, "Are the characters (and by extension we ourselves) incapable of seeing particular persons as individuals, or have we all been rendered crazy by the imperatives of groupthink?" Equally disturbing, the college at which the play takes place is one where those who prosper, whether students or administrators, are simply those most savvy at whacking a system set up by money grubbers bent on student retention and their odd allies, the thought police. From such an environment, the more sensitive and intelligent must either flee or else be banished. Gilman's insights here bear affinities to those in recent campus novels by Philip Roth, Francine Prose, and J. M. Coetzee where rightist bottom line considerations are shown to have joined forces with leftist PC dictates straight out of the Chinese Cultural Revolution to produce startling new hells. The story of "Little Black Sambo," which gives the play its title, is a marvelously apt and ironic controlling metaphor for this dramatic action. Finally, if the play has any weakness, I would say it is a certain pallid quality arising from an absence of particular depth or memorableness in any of the characters. At least in reading, none of the parts seems to be a fully written dramatic role to which different actors might bring different insights and emphases. Nevertheless, Rebecca Gilman has succeeded in having complex ideas emerge with naturalness during the course of a dramatic action of wit and vitality. For this, she deserves high praise indeed.

It has been years since I have read a new play with a message as important and relevant as Spinning Into Butter. Although countless plays have been written on the subject of race relations in the United States, this is the first that I know of to tackle the new brand of politically correct, closeted racism that is so rampant in our nation today. The racists in Gilman's play are not of the extremist, "I wear my hate on my t-shirt" variety. Gilman's racists are unique in that they are easy to identify with, and as you begin to point the finger at their actions, you can't help but point the finger at yourself as well. If you are searching for a genuinely important piece of theatre to add to your season, put this play at the top of your reading list.

Plays, of course, are meant to be read aloud but this is pretty gripping reading just as a book. The main character, Sarah, is ambiguous enough to be real and to elicit in many of us some clear recognition. She grapples with her racism in terms of the crisis precipitated by a "student of color." It is interesting to follow the dilemma to its finale as all the characters represent an academic nightmare of political correctness and knee-jerk liberalism. I plan to use this in my book club by having each member take a part and read it through. I think this would be a different and highly provocative exercise for any reading group. Hearing some of Gilmas's language out loud is bound to set up some excellent discussions. I recommend this play either for silent or out-loud reading in a group. I look forward to seeing the play.

Gilman is certainly one of the most promising young playwrights in the world, and this play solidifies that. She has created a beautiful portrait of the problems created when those in power attempt to relate to different races, and the absurdity of an individual believing he or she can relate to someone with completely different life experiences. Gilman zeros in precisely on how political correctness has gone too far as to be almost absurd, instead of letting people have their own say in matters. When the headmaster of the college in this play attepmts -- with good intentions -- to intrude into the lives of her minority students, chaos ensues, and she realizes just how little she has learned about equality.

Also wonderful in this play is the subplot about the professors and deans, who are all fighting for position and recognition among both the academic public and the student body, and how the wide infighting among faculty at colleges can affect its students.

This play drives deep without seeming too, questioning just how many amongst us are truly racists without being aware of it, and how the road to hell really is paved with good intentions. A good modern read, and a playwright to watch.

George Bernard Shaw once said "I was taught when I was young that if people would only love one another, then all would be well with the world. This seemed good and very nice but I found that when I went into the world and tried to put it into practice; not only that the world was seldom lovable...but that I was not very lovable myself." This quotation applies directly to Gilman's important new work. Sarah is the dean of students at a mostly white university. When controversy occurs, Sarah begins to examine herself. Sarah's personal battle with the darkness within herself is perhaps a battle that we should all take up. read it!

This is a very poigiant play dealing with the issue of racism at a small New England college. It made me re-evaluate what racism truly means, and think about how our actions, even on a subconsious level, can at times reflect prejudice.

I have made the mistake of reading 3 plays by this playwright. This was the last straw. I was bored with every preachy moment. A play written by a white person about white people trying to understand racial tolerance. Next!

One of the main characters in the show corrects Sarah, the main character, and says that he prefers to be called part of people of color and not a minority. Standing from a black male at the same age range as the character I think this is not accurately presenting our generation. We are not as dramatically pressed on whether we are called certain things or not and that's a huge component of the book. I do not mind at all being called a minority because...well...we're not a majority, so what does that make us? A minority! And I'm not the only one who believes this, I think a MAJORITY believes that it doesn't matter unless you don't use racial slurs. She touches upon a good point that minorities don't like to be stereotyped but some theories that Rebecca Gilman brings up I do not agree with. I'm glad however that the show has drive and has certain points that it is determined to make, even if I don't agree with those points.

Using the old, and politically incorrect, story of Little Black Sambo as her controlling metaphor and the inspiration for her title, Gilman provides a look at the hidden racism within the white community, specifically a college community in rural Vermont. Students, deans, and faculty all examine their attitudes and behavior when Simon Brick, one of the few African-American students on campus, finds a hate note tacked to the door of his room. Dean of Students Sarah Daniels, in whose office the action takes place, is quick to respond, as is the politically correct faculty and administration. Though all have good intentions, everyone has an agenda, and the on-campus dialogue they hope to establish becomes increasingly emotional. As in Little Black Sambo, the "tigers" soon begin to chase each other furiously around the tree, until they turn themselves into a pool of butter.

The characters are painted with a broad brush, and for each one we know only what will further the message or provide humor to leaven the didacticism. Sarah Daniels's on-campus affair provides plenty of opportunities to hold male characters up to humorous examination for their sexual biases. The administration wants to keep the racial incident out of the press. The Dean of Humanities proposes innumerable campus meetings where students and faculty will publicly examine and confess their attitudes and biases. A student founds Students for Tolerance because it because it will look good on his law school application, stating, "Where I'm from, I do not think people are racists." (His declaration that he's from Greenwich, CT, is an example of the humor.) Conflicts within the administration rise to the surface, and Sarah's good intentions of securing a large scholarship for a minority student, if he will declare himself "Hispanic" or "Puerto Rican," rather than "nuyorican," backfires.

Though this play was written in 2000, it feels more like something from the 1970s. During the past thirty years, college campuses have dealt with so many demonstrations about race and bias that administrators are, by now, universally sensitive about these issues. As a result, this "message play" feels dated, treating familiar issues of racism as if they were new, but offering few new insights into them. Because the characters here are shallow, there is little sense of audience identification to give universality to the conflict or a sense of catharsis to the "surprise ending." The important, and still relevant, subject of bias is hidden within a play which seems unsure of whether it is serious, absurd, or both. Mary Whipple

George Bernard Shaw once said "I was taught when I was young that if people would only love one another, then all would be well with the world. This seemed good and very nice but I found that when I went into the world and tried to put it into practice; not only that the world was seldom lovable...but that I was not very lovable myself." This quotation applies directly to Gilman's important new work. Sarah is the dean of students at a mostly white university. When controversy occurs, Sarah begins to examine herself. Sarah's personal battle with the darkness within herself is perhaps a battle that we should all take up. read it!