Clybourne Park -- by Bruce Norris (2011)

Description
Believe it or not, this play is one of the few plays that I had already encountered before starting this project. I have read the play a few summers back because I knew it was a spinoff/sequel to A Raisin in the Sun, which I had focused on for a bit during undergrad.

Bruce Norris' two-act play starts in 1959 when a white couple, Russ and Bev, are in the midst of selling their house to the Youngers, the main African-American family in A Raisin in the Sun. When Russ and Bev realize their house is being sold to a black couple, there is some fallout. Russ and Bev also are grieving the loss of their son who had been a soldier in Korea--the son had returned home and soon thereafter committed suicide. In the second act of the play, the time is 2009. The now predominantly black neighborhood is on the cusp of gentrification as a white couple plans to purchase and raze the house bought by the Youngers back in the 50s. 

Interestingly, each member of the seven-person cast plays at least one new character in the second act. The play is categorized as a comedy-- rare for this project. However, I contend that it is more of a tragicomedy than a pure comedy. The play went on to win the Tony for Best Play in 2012.

Candid Reactions

• Norris wastes no time sneaking in themes of ownership and slavery. 
• Bev is so well-intended, but also naively ignorant. 
• How great is the foreshadowing with the statement: "Maybe people don't like having their leg pulled" (13). 
• Russ is unwilling to move from his seat. Norris slips in moments wherein characters refuse to budge physically and philosophically. 
• Why does Russ shrug so much?
• Jim instructs, "Bend the knees or suffer the consequences" (29). The audience member might laugh at Jim's didactic nature and miss the fact that Norris is actually sprinkling in morals. 
• Kevin poses, "But you can't live in a principle, can you? Gotta live in a house" (65). Simple statement, profound message.  
• The skiing bit is so cringeworthy. 
• Yikes. Russ really tears apart his own community. 
• The 2-child/3-child bit with Bev is well-calculated. 
• The parallelism throughout Act Two is remarkable. I will not provide each time there is clear parallelism because I'd be recapping the entire act. 
• Lindsey says half of her friends are black and automatically you roll your eyes. Well done, Norris!
• Steve provides perhaps the most thought-provoking line of the play: "The history of America is the history of private property" (185).  
• Oh, goodness. These jokes are tasteless. I wonder how audiences react to them. 
• Kenneth's appearance at the end of the play reminds me of The Boy's appearance at the end of Three Tall Women. 
• The ending exchange between Bev and Kenneth is heartbreaking -- not a common way to end a comedy, that's for sure. 

Top Two Aspects/Reasons for Winning
1. Race Dialogue
Norris creates opportunity for people to dialogue on the ways in which we speak about race. He acknowledges bias and systemic conflicts. While the audience may laugh at the blunders in communication, the audience may also reflect on how communication should occur between separate races.

2. The Concept
Norris not only draws attention to race through his dialogue, but through the entire setup, as well. Lorainne Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is an American classic that amazingly did not receive a Pulitzer. By creating a sequel to the play, Norris draws attention to the source. Here, Norris indirectly emphasizes the value in having a multicultural lens. Clybourne Park reminds the reader that racism and race issues have not disappeared, nor have they been fully resolved, simply because the Civil Rights Movement occurred.

Classroom Implications
Well . . . the completely inappropriate jokes at the end of Act Two would put this out of contention for high school. However, it clearly could be an engaging read for students who enjoyed reading A Raisin in the Sun. Comparative essays could be a quick go-to for deep analyses. I would certainly believe structure, tone, and diction could be analyzed with much success.

Personal Takeaway
Classic texts can inspire modern reinventions.

Ranking

	Dialogue	Characters	Plot/Conflict	Symbol/Literary Devices	Overall Enjoyment	TOTAL SCORE 8.25
0	Unfollowable; unrealistic; diction does not match character	Undeveloped; does not reflect humanity	Not engaging; predictable; reader can step away from text because it isn’t gripping	Devices are apparent for cleverness and do not enhance the story	Reader has no interest in re-reading play
1	Not consistently realistic	Well-developed; most depictions reflect humanity	Semi-engaging; some unnecessary plot-points (1.5)	Devices somewhat enhance story	Reader would re-read with pleasure and reminded of work (1.5)
2	Realistic; connotative; diction matches characters (1.75)	Fully-developed; depictions reflect humanity (1.75)	Engaging; unique; reader finds it impossible to put down text because the conflict is so gripping!	Devices seamlessly enhance the story and provide rich interpretation (1.75)	Reader would re-read the play on own volition, enthusiastically