Clybourne Park
Encyclopedia
Clybourne Park is a 2010 play by Bruce Norris
written in response to Lorraine Hansberry
's play A Raisin in the Sun
portraying fictional events set before and after the play and loosely based on real life events. The premiere took place in February 2010 at Playwrights Horizons
in New York. The play received its UK premiere at the Royal Court Theatre
in London
directed by Dominic Cooke
. The play "applies a modern twist to the issues of race and housing and aspirations for a better life." The play was awarded the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
.
, and the neighbor, Karl, is Karl Lindner, the minor character from that play who attempts to bribe the Youngers into abandoning their plans to move into the neighborhood. As arguments ensue about the potential problems of integrating the neighborhood, both couples awkwardly call on Russ and Bev's black housekeeper and her husband to support their opposing views. Russ finally snaps and throws everyone out of the house, saying he no longer cares about his neighbors after their callousness and cruelty to his son Kenneth when he returned home from the Korean War
; Kenneth later committed suicide on the upper floor of their home.
. A white couple seeking to buy and renovate the house are being forced to negotiate with local housing regulations with a black couple representing a neighborhood organization. (The white couple's lawyer is the daughter of the neighbour and his deaf wife, and mentions that they moved out of the neighborhood around the time of her birth; the black wife is a relative of the family who bought the home from Bev and Russ.) The discussion of housing codes soon degenerates into one of racial issues, revealing resentments from both parties.
, 311 U.S. 32 (1940)).
The Hansberry family home, a red brick three-floor at 6140 S. Rhodes which they bought in 1937, is up for landmark status before the Chicago City Council's Committee on Historical Landmarks Preservation.
in New York featuring Tony Award
winner Frank Wood
, Emmy nominee Annie Parisse
, Jeremy Shamos, Crystal A. Dickinson, Brendan Griffin
, Damon Gupton and Christina Kirk.
The UK premiere took place in August 2010 at the Royal Court Theatre
in London directed by the artistic director of the theatre Dominic Cooke
starring Sophie Thompson
, Martin Freeman
, Lorna Brown, Sarah Goldberg, Michael Goldsmith, Lucian Msamati
, Sam Spruell
and Steffan Rhodri
.
It then transferred to Wyndham's Theatre
in the West End
with most of the original cast with the exceptions of Martin Freeman
who was replaced by Stephen Campbell Moore
and Steffan Rhodri
who was replaced by Stuart McQuarrie
.
In October/Nov 2011 the play was in residence with the Trinity Repertory Company
in Providence, RI.
Bruce Norris (playwright)
Bruce Norris is an American actor and playwright associated with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company of Chicago. On April 18, 2011 Norris was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Clybourne Park...
written in response to Lorraine Hansberry
Lorraine Hansberry
Lorraine Hansberry was an African American playwright and author of political speeches, letters, and essays...
's play A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes...
portraying fictional events set before and after the play and loosely based on real life events. The premiere took place in February 2010 at Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work....
in New York. The play received its UK premiere at the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
directed by Dominic Cooke
Dominic Cooke
Dominic Cooke is an English theatre director and playwright. He won the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for best director for his revival of The Crucible while working at the RSC...
. The play "applies a modern twist to the issues of race and housing and aspirations for a better life." The play was awarded the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama
Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
.
Act I: 1959
Grieving parents Bev and Russ are planning to sell their home in the white middle-class Chicago neighborhood of Clybourne Park. They receive a visit from their local vicar, as well as a neighbor and his deaf, pregnant wife; the neighbor informs them that the family buying the house is black, and pleads with the couple to sell the house to the church instead, for fear that area property values will fall if black residents move in. It becomes apparent that the black family moving in are the Youngers, the protagonists of A Raisin in the SunA Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes...
, and the neighbor, Karl, is Karl Lindner, the minor character from that play who attempts to bribe the Youngers into abandoning their plans to move into the neighborhood. As arguments ensue about the potential problems of integrating the neighborhood, both couples awkwardly call on Russ and Bev's black housekeeper and her husband to support their opposing views. Russ finally snaps and throws everyone out of the house, saying he no longer cares about his neighbors after their callousness and cruelty to his son Kenneth when he returned home from the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
; Kenneth later committed suicide on the upper floor of their home.
Act II: 2009
Set in the same home as Act I, the same actors reappear playing different characters. In the intervening fifty years, Clybourne Park has become an all-black neighborhood now gentrifyingGentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
. A white couple seeking to buy and renovate the house are being forced to negotiate with local housing regulations with a black couple representing a neighborhood organization. (The white couple's lawyer is the daughter of the neighbour and his deaf wife, and mentions that they moved out of the neighborhood around the time of her birth; the black wife is a relative of the family who bought the home from Bev and Russ.) The discussion of housing codes soon degenerates into one of racial issues, revealing resentments from both parties.
Real Life Events
Hansberry's parents bought a house in the white neighborhood of Washington Park, an action that resulted in a legal case (Hansberry v. LeeHansberry v. Lee
Hansberry v. Lee, , is a famous case now usually known in civil procedure for teaching that res judicata may not bind a subsequent plaintiff who had no opportunity to be represented in the earlier civil action. The facts of the case dealt with a racially restrictive covenant that barred African...
, 311 U.S. 32 (1940)).
The Hansberry family home, a red brick three-floor at 6140 S. Rhodes which they bought in 1937, is up for landmark status before the Chicago City Council's Committee on Historical Landmarks Preservation.
Awards and nominations
- 2011 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play
- 2011 Pulitzer Prize for DramaPulitzer Prize for DramaThe Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than the calendar year...
- 2011 South Bank Sky Arts Award for Best Play
- 2010 London Critics Circle for Best New Play
- 2010 Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play
Performance
The premiere took place on February 2010 at Playwrights HorizonsPlaywrights Horizons
Playwrights Horizons is a not-for-profit Off-Broadway theater located in New York City dedicated to the support and development of contemporary American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, and to the production of their new work....
in New York featuring Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
winner Frank Wood
Frank Wood (actor)
Frank Wood is an American actor who has appeared in various television, film, and theatre roles. His most frequent role was performing as Greg in the HBO series Flight Of The Conchords.-Early life:...
, Emmy nominee Annie Parisse
Annie Parisse
Anne Marie Cancelmi , known as Annie Parisse, is an American television, film, and theater actress, known for playing Alexandra Borgia on the television drama Law & Order, a role she played from 2005 until 2006 in 33 episodes. Parisse is also known for her role of Julia Lindsey Snyder on the...
, Jeremy Shamos, Crystal A. Dickinson, Brendan Griffin
Brendan Griffin
Brendan Griffin is a former Irish Fine Gael politician. A national teacher by profession, he was an unsuccessful candidate at the 1969 general election. He was first elected to Dáil Éireann as a Fine Gael Teachta Dála at the 1973 general election for the Tipperary South constituency...
, Damon Gupton and Christina Kirk.
The UK premiere took place in August 2010 at the Royal Court Theatre
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
in London directed by the artistic director of the theatre Dominic Cooke
Dominic Cooke
Dominic Cooke is an English theatre director and playwright. He won the 2007 Laurence Olivier Award for best director for his revival of The Crucible while working at the RSC...
starring Sophie Thompson
Sophie Thompson
Sophie Thompson is an award-winning English actress, best known for playing Stella Crawford in EastEnders.-Early life:...
, Martin Freeman
Martin Freeman
Martin John C. Freeman is an English actor. He is known for his roles as John in Love Actually, Tim Canterbury in the BBC's Golden Globe-winning comedy The Office, Arthur Dent in the film adaptation of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Dr. John Watson in Sherlock and Mr. Madden...
, Lorna Brown, Sarah Goldberg, Michael Goldsmith, Lucian Msamati
Lucian Msamati
Lucian Msamati, sometimes credited as Wiina Msamati, is a British-born film, television and theatre actor.-Early life and education:Lucian Gabriel Wiina Msamati was born in the United Kingdom and brought up in Zimbabwe by his Tanzanian parents, a doctor and a nurse, he is the eldest of four siblings...
, Sam Spruell
Sam Spruell
Sam Spruell is a British actor. His film credits include Defiance , Elizabeth: The Golden Age , London to Brighton , To Kill a King and K-19: The Widowmaker...
and Steffan Rhodri
Steffan Rhodri
Steffan Rhodri is a Welsh film actor, best known for portraying Dave Coaches on Gavin & Stacey and as Reg Cattermole on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part I and II.-Film work:* Ironclad...
.
It then transferred to Wyndham's Theatre
Wyndham's Theatre
Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by the actor/manager Charles Wyndham . Located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, it was designed by W.G.R. Sprague about 1898, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916...
in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
with most of the original cast with the exceptions of Martin Freeman
Martin Freeman
Martin John C. Freeman is an English actor. He is known for his roles as John in Love Actually, Tim Canterbury in the BBC's Golden Globe-winning comedy The Office, Arthur Dent in the film adaptation of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Dr. John Watson in Sherlock and Mr. Madden...
who was replaced by Stephen Campbell Moore
Stephen Campbell Moore
Stephen Campbell Moore is an English actor, best known for his roles in the Alan Bennett play The History Boys and its subsequent film.-Career:...
and Steffan Rhodri
Steffan Rhodri
Steffan Rhodri is a Welsh film actor, best known for portraying Dave Coaches on Gavin & Stacey and as Reg Cattermole on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part I and II.-Film work:* Ironclad...
who was replaced by Stuart McQuarrie
Stuart McQuarrie
Stuart McQuarrie is an actor who has starred in multiple acclaimed films, including Trainspotting and 28 Days Later. In 2008, McQuarrie starred in the film Ecstasy based on The Undefeated from Irvine Welsh's best-selling novel Ecstasy: Three Tales of Chemical Romance...
.
In October/Nov 2011 the play was in residence with the Trinity Repertory Company
Trinity Repertory Company
Trinity Repertory Company is a non-profit regional theater located in Providence, Rhode Island. The theater is a member of the League of Resident Theatres. Founded in 1963, the theater is "one of the most respected regional theatres in the country"...
in Providence, RI.