New Century Theatre, Northampton, MA
through July 26, 2014
by K.J. Rogowski
New Century Theatre's production of Bruce Norris'
"Clybourne Park," is not a destination, it is a journey filled with
hairpin turns, sudden stops, and jackrabbit starts.
The Act I crisis focuses around a house in Chicago in 1959
which is being vacated by Russ (Sam Rush) and his wife, Bev (Kathy McCafferty)
because of the secret, painful memories that haunt them there. To compound
their trauma, the couple is confronted by self-righteous/right thinking friends
who accost them on how they can think of selling their home in exclusive
Clybourne Park to a black family. Now, fast forward 50 years into Act II, and
the same home is about to be demolished and replaced by a non-historical
contemporary monstrosity by a white family looking to move into what is now a
predominantly black neighborhood. At the same time, advocates for historical
preservation petition to stop the new construction.
Norris' cleverly crafted script delves into the deeply
personal beliefs, hurts, misconceptions, and prejudices of each of the
characters as they sometimes naively, sometimes intentionally, try to explain,
argue, joke and talk their way through issues and situations they never thought
they would find themselves in. Each time the playwright brings these personal
confrontations on race, sex, or secrets to a boiling point that can make the
audience squirm more than just a little, he does a 180 degree turn, breaking
that tension with a comic non-sequitur that lets everyone breathe a little
easier. But, the concepts and issues are, for the most part, left unresolved,
since it is not so much a matter of declaring a solution or a winner, as much
as it is a matter of exposing them, and leaving them with the audience to live
with and decide.
Under the direction of Ed Golden, the cast does a wonderful
job as they first portray characters operating under the societal norms of 1959
middle America, and then switching into their 2009 mode of thought and action,
as the decedents of the characters in Act I. The set design of Greg Trochlil
cleverly transforms right before the viewers' eyes. Roles and arguments at
Clybourne Park are fast paced; they reverse direction and twist down roads that
one might not want to travel. Sometimes, "Clybourne Park" demands
that the audience hold their (collective) breath, but it is a journey well
worth taking.
