Spinning into Butter A Play

Set on a college campus in Vermont,Spinning into Butteris a new play by a major young American playwright that explores the dangers of both racism and political correctness in America today in a manner that is at once profound, disturbing, darkly comic, and deeply cathartic. Rebecca Gilman challenges our preconceptions about race relations, writing of a liberal dean of students named Sarah Daniels who investigates the pinning of anonymous, clearly racist letters on the door of one of the college's few African American students. The stunning discovery that there is a virulent racist on campus forces Sarah, along with other faculty members and students, to explore her feelings about racism, leading to surprising discoveries and painful insights that will rivet and provoke the reader as perhaps no play since David Mamet's Oleanna has done. Spinning into Butterhad its world premiere at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in May 1999 and will open at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center in New York in April 2000. Rebecca Gilman, one of the finest young playwrights now at work in America, has been awarded several major prizes for her work. These include the American Theater Critics Association's Osborn Award, the Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, the George Devine Award, theEvening StandardAward for Most Promising Playwright, the Scott McPherson Award, and an Illinois Arts Council playwrighting fellowship. A native of Alabama, Gilman lives in Chicago. Winner of the Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays Winner of the Jeff Award for new work Set on a college campus in Vermont,Spinning into Butteris a new play by a major young American playwright that explores the dangers of both racism and political correctness in America today in a manner that is at once profound, disturbing, darkly comic, and deeply cathartic. Rebecca Gilman challenges our preconceptions about race relations, writing of a liberal dean of students named Sarah Daniels who investigates the pinning of anonymous, clearly racist letters on the door of one of the college's few African American students. The stunning discovery that there is a virulent racist on campus forces Sarah, along with other faculty members and students, to explore her feelings about racism, leading to surprising discoveries and painful insights that will rivet and provoke the reader as perhaps no play since David Mamet'sOleannahas done. Spinning into Butterhad its world premiere at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago in May 1999 and opened at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center in New York in April 2000. "Ms. Gilman's head-on collision with this nuanced subject . . . invites an audience to recall the theater as topical and provocative."Peter Marks,The New York Times "Bold . . . a play so honest that labels seem beside the point . . . A work that is not at all neat, and that, by far, is its greatest virtue."Hedy Weiss,Chicago Sun-Times "A play of blistering force . . . [Gilman] is poised to have a major impact on the American theater."Chris Jones,Variety

Rebecca Gilman was born in Trussville, Alabama, a small town outside Birmingham. She briefly attended Middlebury College in Vermont in the early 1980s and has lived in Chicago since 1994, after she received a graduate degree in theater from the University of Iowa.

Spinning into Butter
act oneThe world premiere of Spinning into Butter was presented by the Goodman Theatre in Chicago, Illinois, on May 16, 1999. The artistic director of the Goodman Theatre is Robert Falls; the executive director, Roche Schulfer. It was directed by Les Waters. Sets were designed by Linda Buchanan, costumes by Birgit Rattenborg Wise, and lighting by Robert Christen; the sound design and music were by Rob Milburn and Larry Schanker. The cast, in order of appearance, was as follows:Spinning into Butter was first produced in New York by Lincoln Center Theater (André Bishop, artistic director, and Bernard Gersten, executive producer) at the Mitzi E. New-house Theater on July 27, 2000, in association with Lincoln Center Festival 2000. The play was directed by Daniel Sullivan. The set was designed by John Lee Beatty, costumes by Jess Goldstein, and lighting by Brian MacDevitt; the original music and sound were by Dan Moses Schreier. The cast, in order of appearance, was as follows:CharactersDEAN SARAH DANIELS, thirty-five to fortyPATRICK CHIBAS, nineteenROSS COLLINS, thirty-five to fortyDEAN BURTON STRAUSS, fifty-fiveDEAN CATHERINE KENNEY, sixtyMR. MEYERS, fiftyGREG SULLIVAN, twenty-oneTime and placeBelmont College, Belmont, Vermont, in the presentCopyright © 2000 by Rebecca Gilman