BWW Reviews: CLYBOURNE PARK at Center Stage - Is Everyone a Little Bit Racist?

One of the more surprising numbers from the Tony-winning musical AVENUE Q is "Everyone's a Little Bit Racist." And after observing the second act of CLYBOURNE PARK, where jokes start flying all over the place without the slightest hint of political correctness and the use of vulgarity becomes commonplace, the song certainly could be used as the theme for CLYBOURNE PARK.

I have to applaud for Center Stage for choosing this terrific play by Bruce Norris which I had the pleasure of seeing in its return engagement at the Wooly Mammoth Theatre in DC. I have read it is the only play that has won the TRIPLE CROWN of theater - that is Tony Award, the Olivier Award, and the Pulitzer Prize. Seems like an easy choice to add to a theater's season.

But you need a terrific cast and a capable director to pull this off and Center Stage thankfully has both. Derrick Sanders directs a superb ensemble, one of the best ensembles I've seen at Center Stage. The timing of the actors is spot on .

The play involves the same house in Chicago that was the scene of Lorraine Hansberry's classic, THE RAISIN IN THE SUN where the Younger family refuses to let a racist community leader try to buy them out from infiltrating into a 100% White neighborhood.

In CLYBORUNE PARK, the house is now the home of a White family who in 1959, during the last years of the Eisenhower administration, and the owners of the home have sold the house unknowingly to a Black family (the same Younger family featured in RAISIN) and they refuse to have the racist homeowners association persuade them to stop the sale to prevent the possibility of have their property values possibly be lowered. The owners, Bev and Russ, are moving so Russ can be closer to his job in the suburbs. The family has not recovered from the tragedy of having their son commit suicide in his upstairs bedroom after returning from the Korean War. Russ has never forgiven the neighborhood for the way they and their son were treated and hence the last thing on his mind is whether they have sold their house to a Black family. His wife Bev seems so innocent when questioned about selling their house to a Black family and seems a little naive when she comments, "Don't they have a right to live where they want?"

Act II uses the same cast in vastly different roles fifty years later. The year is now 2009 and this house has morphed into a run-down wreck with graffiti in the living room and White buyers intend to move into a Black neighborhood that gentrification is slowly taking over. The neighborhood now even sprouts a Whole Foods. There are plans to level the house by a young professionAl White family and a Black couple has some concerns on what they want to build thinking about the history involved in the neighborhood. What happens in Act II between these young professionals who though they have so much in common, yet race is still such a key factor when they confront their hidden feelings about race.

It is fascinating to view the actors change their roles and characters in Act II and be prepared to wince at some of the jokes that come from these so called "young professionals".

The ensemble is first rate and is made up of Beth Hylton, Jonathan Crombie, Jacob H. Knoll, James Ludwig, Jessica Frances Dukes, Charlie Hudson III, and Jenna Sokolowski. Kudos to Casting Director Tara Rubin.

Scenic Designer Jack Magaw must have loved this assignment and his work is just superb. Reggie Ray has provided the appropriate costumes and Tom Weaver (Sound Designer) is responsible for hearing every word.

Once again, Center Stage Production Dramaturg, has provided a program rich with information and history.

Center Stage Artistic Director Kwame Kwei-Armah has coupled CLYBOURNE PARK to run concurrently with his World Premiere play, BENEATHA'S PLACE to form The Raisin Cycle. This show with the same cast (with the addition of Kim James Bey) will play from May 8 to June 16, 2013 when CLYBOURNE PARK ends its run as well. Kwei-Armah moves BENEATHA'S PLACE to a bungalow in Lagos, Nigeria. Act I takes place in the Fall of 1959 and Act 2 is the present.

For tickets, call 410-332-0033 or visit www.centerstage.org.

Center Stage's RAISIN CYCLE to be subject of new PBS Documentary This Fall

Clybourne Park and Beneatha's Place will be featured this fall in a nationally broadcast PBS documentary examining the legacy of A Raisin in the Sun.The documentary special follows the process of mounting The Raisin Cycle, from first rehearsal through the opening of both productions.

"A Raisin in the Sun is a powerful story of perseverance that arts followers have come to know and love, and we think our viewers will be just as interested in learning more about the Clybourne Park and Beneatha's Place storylines," said PBS Vice President of Programming Donald Thoms. "PBS is committed to giving millions of viewers a front-row seat and a backstage pass to the best music, theater, dance, art, and cultural history programs on-air and online, and we're excited that CENTERSTAGE will provide us with great content to feature this fall."

"We are honored to partner with PBS in this fantastic endeavor to expand the impact of CENTERSTAGE's work beyond our local audience," said Stephen Richard, CENTERSTAGE's Managing Director. "Bringing The Raisin Cycle, through television, to communities across the country is indicative of our belief in the power of theater to play a role in national conversations."

Congratulations to Center Stage for this amazing news.

cgshubow@broadwayworld.com