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Saturday, July 13, 2013

REVIEW: THRILLING PRODUCTION OF “CLYBOURNE PARK” @ PREMIERE STAGES

By Ruth Ross

Whether out of sheer laziness or lack of time, I did not see Clybourne Park on Broadway, but I doubt that that award-winning performance was one iota better than the polished, riveting production now making its New Jersey premiere at the aptly named Premiere Stages on the campus of Kean University in Union.

Under Wes Grantom's taut direction, Bruce Norris's Pulitzer Prize-winning (and Tony Award-winning) comic drama addresses the way we talk about race—when we're not talking about race—from two vantage points 50 years apart: 1959, just before the Civil Rights Act was made law, and 2009, one year after the United States elected its first black President. While a half century seems like a long time, by the time the lights go down in the intimate Zella Fry Theatre, we are not so certain that anything has really changed.

That Norris has written naturally sounding dialogue and that Grantom has directed a cast that sounds like real people having real conversations is testimony to the magic of theater. And if "art imitates life," then this production is the embodiment of that dictum.

2013, Premiere Stages, Clybourne ParkMuch has been made of the link between Clybourne Park and Lorraine Hansberry's ground-breaking play, A Raisin in the Sun, but I don't think knowledge of the latter is required to enjoy and understand the former. Both plays take place in Chicago and involve the sale of a house in a middle class neighborhood. In the first act, which takes place in 1959, a white family has sold to a black buyer, much to the vociferous consternation of their white neighbors. In the second act, which takes place in 2009, the black sellers have sold their house to a white yuppie couple, much to their dismay when they discover the buyers' plans to "renovate" the house and thus destroy the historic character of this newly gentrified neighborhood. (Above: Brad Bellamy as Russ and Kate Goehring as Bev. Photo by Roy Groething.)

2013, Premiere Stages, Clybourne ParkThe talented actors assembled by Grantom each play two roles (one even plays three). Brad Bellamy is terrific as the Russ, intelligent and angry that his community has abandoned him after his family tragedy suicide, and appropriately coarse as Dan, the worker digging a trench to lay an electrical conduit for the soon-to-be-remodeled house. As his concerned wife Bev, Kate Geohring is clueless silliness personified as she struggles to be taken seriously, and in Act II, as the lawyer Kathy, a know-it-all who flaunts her travel acumen as she reveals her ignorance. As Karl, aggrieved that Russ and Bev has sold to a black family, and later as Steve, the house's white buyer, Tim McGeever is the epitome of crass bigotry; he utters the cringe-inducing dialogue as though he believes every word. And portraying his pregnant wife in both acts, Danielle Slavick is totally believable as the deaf Betsy, unaware of the hatred her husband spews, and sympathetic at first as Lindsey who, once the liberal curtain is lifted, reveals her own narrow-mindedness. (Above L-R: Samuel Stricklen as Albert, Brett Robinson as Francine, Tim McGeever as Karl and Dustin Fontaine as Jim. Photo by Roy Groething.)

Brett Robinson morphs from the rather timid maid Francine, unwilling to make waves with her employers, to an outspoken Lena in an amazing transformation indicative of how assertive black women have become in 50 years. She effectively takes control of Act II. Samuel Stricklen is equally as fine as Francine's husband Albert (who dares to talk back to the white people gathered in the living room) and later as the quieter Kevin who appears to be comfortable in his success. And Dustin Fontaine is superb as Reverend Jim who has come to counsel Russ only to find himself in the middle of a spirited racial discussion and displaying his own prejudice by joining in, and as Tom, the officious zoning board member sent to review the code as it pertains to the "improvements" Steve and Lindsey want to make to the house.

Joseph Gourley's set eschews fussy detail for atmosphere; in Act I, the couple is packing up their modest, middle-class abode, and in the second act, the room is bare except for some folding chairs. Karen Hart's costumes, especially those in Act I, are perfect for the fifties, and Phil Pickens has provided sound from a radio that helps set the time period very well.

One aspect of Clybourne Park I found especially striking: the use of obscene language. In the first act, when Russ uses the f-bomb, it's startling. By 2009, that word and others roll right off the characters' tongues, and we don't even flinch.

In light of the side-show going on around the Trayvon Martin-George Zimmerman trial, a discussion about race that isn't "supposed" to be about race is both timely and relevant. Clybourne Park is an insightful, wryly satiric (and often droll) study of our prejudices and how we face (or deny) them. It is a play about community and what that term really means. It is about relationships. It is about our humanity, regardless of the color of our skin. Kudos to Premiere Stages for a production of this timely and important work that you will talk for days afterward. I know I have.

Clybourne Park will be performed at the Zella Fry Theatre of the Vaughn Eames fine Arts Building on the campus of Kean University, 1000 Morris Avenue, Union, through July 29. Performances are Thursdays, Fridays and  Saturdays at 8 PM; Saturdays and Sundays at 3 PM. For information and tickets, call the box office at 908.737.7469 or visit www.kean.edu/premierestages.