Do you ever find yourself making snap judgments based on race and still insist that you’re not racist? The characters in Bruce Norris’ Tony and Pulitzer prize-winning play “Clybourne Park” certainly do.
The production of “Clybourne Park,” which opened Friday at the Hippodrome State Theatre, is a collaboration between the UF School of Theatre and Dance and the Hippodrome. It was scheduled several months before the recent protests in Ferguson, Missouri, giving the play a surprising sense of urgency and relevance.
The play is a clever companion piece to Lorraine Hansberry’s classic drama “A Raisin in the Sun” and is set in the same fictional neighborhood first introduced in “Raisin.”
Act One begins in 1959 and introduces Russ and Bev, a white couple grieving over the loss of their son, who is planning to move out of Clybourne Park. Karl (a character who actually appears in “A Raisin in the Sun”) pleads with Russ and Bev not to move, concerned about the black family that will now occupy their house. Karl fears more black families will move into the neighborhood and decrease the property value of the houses there.
Act Two picks up 50 years later, and Clybourne Park has become a predominantly black neighborhood. A white family wants to renovate the house and move in, which will cause a gentrification of the area. Third-year UF masters student Javon Johnson delivers some hitting one-liners in back-and-forth racial dialogues in this act.
To avoid spoiling the play’s best surprises, I’ll leave the summary brief.
Norris’ dialogue is engaging and often painfully funny. The play moves along at a clip without becoming tedious or boring.
There are several moments of racial tension that are exceedingly uncomfortable but ultimately aid in driving Norris’ point home.
The skillful company of eight, who play different characters in each act, each give great performances, but it’s Christopher Swan who manages to stand out. Swan’s performance as Russ is nuanced and believable, as he handles the heaviest moments of the piece without overacting.
This production has much to recommend, Even in a subpar production, the strength of the script would shine the most. Fortunately, the actors carry the script in stride. “Clybourne Park” is a great piece of writing brought vividly to life by a skilled and committed group of performers.
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 9/11/2014 under the headline "Hipp’s ‘Clybourne Park’: funny, relevant production"]
