[NEohioPAL] Berko review: CLYBOURNE PARK @ Cleveland Play House

[Roy Berko]

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'*CLYBOURNE PARK'...a Pulitzer Prize view of neighborhood integration and
gentrification*

Roy Berko
(Member:  Cleveland Critics Circle, American Theatre Critics Association)

Have you ever wondered, after seeing a play, what might have happened to
the characters or even the physical structure in which the story is set,
before the play began or after it ended?  Bruce Norris's 'CLYBOURNE PARK'
does exactly that.

Flash back to 1959, where, at the conclusion of Lorraine Hansberry's 'A
RAISIN THE SUN,' the black Younger family is about to move into the
all-white Clybourne Park area of Chicago.   Before the move, fearing the
lowering of housing costs and white flight, the neighbors sent Karl
Lindner, a bigoted community leader, to offer the Youngers money for not
finalizing the deal.  As it turned out, Lena, the matriarch of the family,
refused the offer and the Youngers moved to a house numbered 406.

(Side note:  the story parallels the plight of Hansberry's family.  In 1937
her father bought a home in Chicago's segregated Washington Park area.  The
restrictive covenants were challenged, resulting in a legal case (Hansberry
v. Lee, 311 U.S. 32).  The Hansberry family won the suit, and lived in the
property, which now has National Landmark Preservation status.)

(Enter Norris)   Act 1 of 'CLYBOURNE PARK' takes us back to 1959, into the
house numbered 406, several days before the Youngers are to move in.  Bev
and Russ, the owners of the property, are grief stricken.  Their son,
Kenneth, who was accused of war crimes, had committed suicide in his
bedroom.  The family, which has been ostracized, decided to sell the
house.  We are never sure whether they sold to a black family to get back
at their neighbors, or, as they state, were "unaware of the race of the new
owners."   Lindner, the bigoted  character from RAISIN, comes to plead with
Bev and Russ to withdraw from the deal. After an emotional confrontation in
front of a group of neighbors, the sellers refuse.  (Exit Norris.)

(Re-enter Norris).   The second act of CLYBOURNE PARK takes place in
2009.   The same actors as in Act 1, playing different characters, are
present.  There is conflict as to whether the house, in what is now
becoming a gentrified community, will be sold, leveled and a new structure
built by a white family.  African American Lena and her husband represent
the local neighborhood association, and mention that her Great-Aunt moved
her family to that house in 1959.  (It is probably not by chance that the
young lady has the same name as her Great-Aunt.) Racism enters as the
blacks, who have rebuilt the neighborhood, don't want white suburbanites to
buy and change the character of the houses, many of which have been rebuilt
to mirror their historical past.

Does the viewer have to know all of the intertwining stories in order to
appreciate the Norris play?  No, but it does add a psychological jolt to
realize that we are watching the blending of ideas of two great
playwrights.  It is also eye-opening to realize that Hansberry, whose
'RAISIN IN THE SUN' is considered the seminal black civil rights play, did
not win a Pulitzer Prize for her script, but Norris did for his.  One can
only wonder if gender and race, subjects of both scripts, was a factor in
Hansberry's denial decision by the Pulitzer committee.

I found the Broadway production of the play fascinating, nicely balancing
the powerful message with well developed natural humor.  The Cleveland Play
House production is good, but under the direction of Mark Cuddy, there are
disconnects.   Some characters are realistic, others developed as
caricatures.  The pacing doesn't build to the emotional climaxes.  The
development somewhat sets aside the serious nature of segregation, problems
caused by regentrification,  prejudice, and the language of hate.  All of
these are in Norris's writing, but not always strongly present on stage.

Part of the issue may be a lack of clarity as to what type of play this is,
which sets the path for the pacing and character development.  In the
before-the-play talk the moderator indicated the play was a "farce."  Farce
is defined as, "a light dramatic work in which highly improbable plot
situations, and often slapstick element are used for humorous effect."  If
this is the focus which director Mark Cuddy used, I can understand why I
found the production somewhat lacking.   The Broadway version was developed
as a realistic drama with wickedly comic interludes which came naturally
from the language of the play.

Norris, who is an actor as well as a playwright, writes characters that
live.   The language and intentions are clear.  The plot is probable.  It
could have been happening today in Cleveland's Tremont, Ohio City or the
Forest Hill area of East Cleveland/Cleveland Heights.

All the actors play dual characters.  One in the 1959 era, another in
2009.  This requires the actors to develop two clearly differentiated
personages.

Remi Sandri is compelling as the father who is still grieving for his
now-dead son.  His inner rage at both the suicide of the boy and the
virulent treatment towards his son by the neighbors, is clearly evident.
The writing arch which allows him, as the second act workman, who finds a
buried trunk in the backyard, to open a letter found inside, and read aloud
the dead son's suicide note, is heart-wrenchingly developed.

On the other hand, both as his wife and a lawyer, Roya Shanks comes off
affected, portraying characters, not real persons.  Which, may be the issue
with others in the cast who, I thought didn't dig deeply enough into the
motivations behind the real people they were portraying and, instead, gave
the veneer of these people.

Bruce Norris says that his hopeful audience response to the play upon
exiting the production is,  "I don't know what's right anymore.  I used to
think I knew what was right, but I'm not sure I do."  Hopefully, the
audience will grab enough from the CPH production to satisfy Norris's goal.

*Capsule Judgement:  Pulitzer Prize winning 'CLYBOURNE PARK' is an
emotionally moving and thought-provoking script that effectively highlights
the still present distrust between members of different races.  It does
that while inserting enough natural humor to keep the audience engaged.  It
gets an acceptable, but not spellbinding production at CPH.  It's a
significant play worth seeing.*

'CLYBOURNE PARK' continues at the Cleveland Play House's Allen Theatre
through April 13, 2014.  For tickets call 216-241-6000 or go to
http://www.clevelandplayhouse.com

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