A comedy about racism sounds perilously close to an oxymoron. But it is precisely this friction between humor and serious subject matter that gives Bruce Norris’ “Clybourne Park” its razor-sharp, satirical edge.
Playing concurrently at the Seattle Rep and on Broadway, the winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama is presented in two acts set, respectively, in 1959 and 2009, each a bookend to the events in Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun.” Creating a comedy that takes off from this revered 1959 drama is both daring and edgy.
Political incorrectness
Directed by associate artistic director Braden Abraham, the Rep’s production features a tremendously talented cast of actors who double up to play a different character in each act. Part of the fun is trying to determine whether the 2009 character is more evolved than the actor’s 1959 persona.
For those who are not familiar with it, “A Raisin in the Sun” concerns a struggling African-American family, the Youngers, who come into an inheritance that enables them to move out of their crowded, multi-generational apartment in the city and purchase a home in the all-white suburb of Clybourne Park. Karl Lindner of the Neighborhood Improvement Association visits and offers to buy out the Youngers because he fears their arrival will lower property values.
Act I of “Clybourne Park” takes place in the home of Russ (Peter Crook) and Bev (Suzanne Bouchard) as they prepare to move out of the house that the Youngers have purchased. Russ and Bev are overwhelmed by grief over a tragedy that took place in their home; the aforementioned tragedy is a major plot driver and, as such, is the play’s one forgivable weakness.
Russ and Bev receive multiple visitors, each with a personal agenda, all only too willing to air their sometimes-unconscious biases including, but not restricted to, race. We alternately laugh and wince as they take turns demeaning everything from African Americans to Jews, veterans, the physically and mentally disabled, and even the grief-stricken. Meanwhile, black housekeeper Francine (Kim Staunton) keeps her own counsel in front of her employers, but her husband, Albert (Teagle F. Bougere), is less circumspect on this eve of the civil-rights movement.
Act II takes place in the same home in a much-deteriorated state after decades of white flight, ghettoization, crime and neglect. The tables are turned as the neighborhood teeters on the brink of yuppie gentrification and the black residents now view the white newcomers with distrust.
Conflicting desires peel away political correctness to reveal that our attitudes haven’t advanced much in 50 years. Updated biases now include discrimination against gays, and technology has further eroded our listening skills.
Director Abraham’s excellent pacing provides maximum comic impact in Act II as Norris holds up an unflattering mirror to our 21st-century selves.
Great performances
The entire cast is terrific, but some performers are particular standouts.
Suzanne Bouchard shines as Bev in Act I: She initially has us laughing at her ‘50s housewife chirpiness, only to move us to tears as she reveals a soul teetering on the edge of total breakdown.
Peter Crook is equally touching as Russ, whose grief has launched him outside the conventions of his time; as Dan the handyman in Act II, his short time onstage generates lots of laughs.
Darragh Kennan is hilarious in Act I as the revolting Karl Lindner of the Neighborhood Improvement Association, the only crossover character from “A Raisin in the Sun.” His 21st-century incarnation as Steve in Act II has hardly improved in either sense or sensitivity.
Kim Staunton does a terrific job as repressed housekeeper Francine in Act I. As dignified Lena in Act II, her attempts to speak out are still marginalized by the other characters due to her race and gender.
Marya Sea Kaminski does a great comic turn as Karl’s hugely pregnant and deaf wife Betsy in Act I; her deafness is scarcely a disadvantage as no one is listening to anyone else anyhow.
Scene designer Scott Bradley’s nifty set transforms during a short intermission from a cozy, ’50s home to a stripped-down, graffiti-covered shell of its former self.
Costumes by Constanza Romero capture perfectly the styles of the characters and their decade.
“Clybourne Park” plays through May 13 at the Seattle Repertory Theatre (www.seattlerep.org).