2011 Best Drama – Clybourne Park – Takes the Stage at Civic Theater
by Bruce Norris
This wickedly funny and fiercely provocative play about race, real estate, and the volatile values of each won nearly every honor the theater has to give: including the 2012 Tony Award for Best Play, the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Best Drama, and the 2011 Oliver Award for Best New Play and the 2012 Theatre World Award.
Written by American Playwright, Bruce Norris, Clybourne Park brings comically tragic characters to life on stage. “This is a play that says many things we never do, but are thinking all the time. From coarse to poetic the language sings the very essence of life in a city”, states Director Bruce E. Tinker. The play, set in a suburban Chicago neighborhood begins in 1959, when a grieving middle aged white couple is preparing to sell their home to the Younger family, who is African American. Their anxious neighbors do almost anything to block the sale. Flash forward 50 years, in the same neighborhood and the same, albeit now empty, house. The now predominantly African-American neighborhood battles to maintain its identify in the face of aggressive gentrification.
In celebration of the Michigan Debut, community partners The Grand Rapids Public Library and WGVU Newsmakers are hosting discussions on the topic of gentrification in Grand Rapids. SEE ATTACHED FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES. The Grand Rapids Civic Theatre is thrilled to host the Michigan Debut of this topical and wickedly funny play. Please note: this play is intended for mature audiences only. Performances of Clybourne Park are January 17 – February 2, 2014.
