#23 / Clybourne Park

The poster image is from the London production, and although the topics addressed by Clybourne Park are quintessentially American, the play is getting good reviews there.

I saw Clybourne Park, by playwright Bruce Norris, yesterday in San Francisco, where it is just beginning a run at ACT, the American Conservatory Theatre.

The Program that ACT provided to theatergoers contains an interview with Bruce Norris, in which he confesses to his pleasure at seeing audiences both "laugh" and "cringe" at the play's provocative dialogue. There is laughter in abundance, but it doesn't come easily, that's for sure. Unless you're really good at guessing the answers to uncomfortable joke questions, you'll have to see the play to find out "why white women are like tampons." This is an example of how the laughter doesn't necessarily come easily. The "cringe" factor is significant.

"Community" building is one of the themes in Clybourne Park. The play begins with a counterpoint to A Raisin In The Sun, the famous play (and movie) on race relations by Lorraine Hansberry.

Recommended.