First theatre production premiered last week

In this age of the pandemic, many of our summer concerts and festivals have been either been postponed or canceled, making many people eager to get out and experience live performances again. Thankfully, last weekend at CSB/ SJU, there was a great opportunity to see some live acting once again with the play “Spinning into Butter” by Rebecca Gillman.

The play takes place at a fictional Belmont College, where one day, an African American student finds racist slurs and death threats on his dorm room door. The play then follows the Dean of Students, Sarah Daniels, as she and other staff members deal with this situation and her want to help minority students.

In the process, it points out some of the character’s racial biases, microaggressions and how these play a role in how we see other people.

“I think the play is about white privilege…Many people are not aware of their privilege or internal biases; this play helps shed some light on that,” Noah Polipnick, a senior in this year’s production, said.

Clearly, this is a play and a conversation that is just as relevant today as it was when it was first performed in 1999. The biases and racism pointed out on stage are the same things being pointed out today, and the parallels drawn between them are uncanny.

Of course, some COVID-19-related restrictions meant that this production would not be quite the same compared to any other year. “Our shows had to be 60 minutes long due to the COVID-19 guidelines.

“Not only that, our shows can only have up to 24 [people] which forced us to create more shows at different times for different days,” senior Peng Xiong said.

Along with that, the performers also had to practice physical distancing and wear masks.

“It was so strange having to work around each other on stage and not being able to perform something as simple as a handshake,” Polipnick said.

“This is the first department production in the 36 years I’ve been here that had no poster,” Director Kaarin Johnston said.

Despite some of these differences, the impact was quite the same, if not more, than plays in the past.

“My favorite part of this production was being able to present it to the audience and have a discussion at the end of our show. It really meant a lot to me because the CSB/SJU community needs to have this talk about racism and how it still affects our community. The community also needs to find ways to combat this racism so that our society can derive and become more stronger in the future,” Xiong said. “This play represents a lot more than meets the eye. It represents an ongoing conversation that is being had, and still should be had, in order to make our community and our world a more equitable place. Even with some restrictions due to COVID-19, this play was able to be a representation of many of the struggles we still face today.”

Even if you missed out on this play, there will still be more chances to see more performances in the future. Frankenstein is the next production being put on by the theatre department, and it is one you will not want to miss.

“Because they have more time to create the production there will be lots more technical effects,” Johnston said. “The actors are wearing period clothing and the set will look like an old-time radio station. It is a big production and I’m sure the audience will love it.”

Frankenstein will be shown the last week of October, just in time for Halloween, in the SBH Theatre.