Four Out of Five Stars
Timeless themes of racism, classism and sexism poignantly displayed on the Great White Way
*The critically-acclaimed “Clybourne Park,” winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the winner of the Olivier Award for Best Play (London), debuts on Broadway with a sixteen week limited engagement. “Clybourne Park” is considered to be a strong contender for Best Play at this year’s Tony Awards (the 2012 nominations will be announced on May 1).
“Clybourne Park,” an age-old story of race and class, parallels and is an apt follow-up to Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” (original production was nominated for four Tony Awards). Both plays are set in Chicago in 1959 and revolve around the same black family that moves into a house in the all-white neighborhood of Clybourne Park. Whereas “A Raisin in the Sun,” which depicts the story about a black family and its journey to integrate, is told from a black perspective, the first act of “Clybourne Park” details the story of the community’s white residents’ unlawful and unsuccessful attempts to keep the neighborhood segregated. Act two of “Clybourne Park” reveals how white residents feel the impact of race and gentrification as they move into a predominately black community.
Written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Bruce Norris and directed by Obie Award winner Pam Mackinnon, “Clybourne Park” is a progressive and provocative take on the “isms” that continue to prevail in America culture. The production artwork of the street sign symbolizes one of the central themes of the play: the racial undercurrent of gentrification and urbanization in the 20th/21st century.
The seven members of the stellar cast include two African Americans and five Caucasians. The play features Crystal A. Dickinson, Brendan Griffin, Damon Gupton, Christina Kirk, Annie Parisse, Jeremy Shamos, and Frank Wood, who each play various rich and complicated characters.
Act one opens with a white couple (Frank Wood, Christina Kirk), along with the family’s black maid (Crystal A. Dickinson), packing to move from the lily-white Chicago suburb—no longer able to remain at the residence because of the emotional turmoil caused by a tragedy involving their son, a Korean War veteran. As they prepare to move, the couple learns from their neighbor (Jeremy Shamos) that their home is being sold to a “Negro family.” The neighbor and community association member relentlessly begs and pressures the couple to withdraw their offer to the black family—citing that when one black family moves into the community, the value of the real property starts its rapid decline.
Act two opens fifty years later in the same house in 2009. The house is not fit for human occupancy—in total need of renovation. The seven cast members transform into modern day characters. The colorful language used, the stereotypical jokes told, and euphemisms employed offer a clear indication of how difficult it still is to address the sensitive issue of race. During act two, the playwright also demonstrates how the legal system and its modern-day legislative process have impacted how the institutionalized problem of gentrification is approached and handled.
With an intelligent, provocative and forward-looking storyline that evokes wit and humor from start to finish, “Clybourne Park” demonstrates that after more than 50 years, and with the country’s first elected African American President, there is still relevant discussion needed on race relations. From Negro to colored to black to African African—the deep rooted issues of race, class and gentrification still actively exist today in any city/any town USA.
See “Clybourne Park” at the Walter Kerr Theatre, (located at 219 West 48th Street, Times Square), New York, New York. For more information, please visit: www.clybournepark.com.
Gwendolyn Quinn is veteran media specialist with a career spanning 20 years. She is the founder of the African American Public Relations Collective (AAPRC) and the publisher and editorial director of “Global Communicator,” an e-publication for public relations, marketing, journalists and communications professionals. She is a contributor to “Souls Revealed” (Souls of My Sisters/Kensington) and featured in “Handle Your Entertainment Business” (Grand Central/Warner Publishing). She is a contributor to the forthcoming book, Souls of “My Faithful Sisters” (Souls of My Sisters/Kensington). Contact her at GwendolynQuinn@aol.com.
