Michael Kaye, Thomas Derrah, Marvelyn McFarlane, DeLance Minefee, Paula Plum, and Tim Spears in a scene from SpeakEasy Stage's production of Clybourne Park, running March 1-30 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. Tickets/info at speakeasystage.com or 617.933.8600. Photo by Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo.
Before I delve into the specifics of my
review of the current SpeakEasy
Stage Company production of "Clybourne Park" at the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion,
allow me a few moments to philosophize about the nature of "Perfection."
Plato devoted a
great deal of time and writing to his concept of perfection, especially as he
discussed ideal forms. To Plato, everything that exists has a form of perfection for
itself. All things work, in their existence, to approach their ideal - to move
toward their perfection. An object, living or dead, always works in some manner
to realize its intrinsic nature. Thus, there exists, according to the
Platonic way of thinking, a perfect ideal of "The
Play." I believe that the current SpeakEasy production of "Clybourne Park" comes as close to achieving the
level of that hypothetical Platonic ideal as any play that I can recall seeing.
If I were handed a magic wand that would enable me to make improvements
on this play as written and as acted, I would simply lay down that wand and
say, in effect, "If it
ain't broke, . .. "
Everything about "Clybourne
Parks" works like a
well-oiled machine. It is no accident that Bruce Norris has received universal accolades for
the script - Tony Award,
Pulitzer Prize, Olivier, et
al. I saw the Broadway
production of this play last year, and was deeply impressed and profoundly
moved. When I learned that the Boston premiere would be taking place at
the Boston Center for the Arts,
I wondered how our local theater professionals would be able to match the
high level of the New York production. I
need not have worried. In
every aspect, this present production either matches or exceeds the level of
professionalism and artistry of the Broadway version. Director M. Bevin O’Gara has selected a cast of men and
women who are simply flawless in the execution of their challenging dual roles.
In his play,
Norris weaves together threads from a rich variety of social themes - racism, prejudice, gentrification,
property, the importance of place, the nature of community, communication and
barriers to communication, post-traumatic stress disorder, resiliency and the
question of “who is my
neighbor?” In the hands
of someone with less of a nuanced ear for dialogue and a less well-developed
feel for dramatic arc, the scrambled themes could have devolved into a tangled
hodgepodge. Norris has
crafted a tapestry that is awe-inspiring and deeply troubling.
“Clybourne Park” stands
proudly on the shoulders of Lorraine
Hansberry’s classic “A Raisin in the Sun,” and picks up the action of that play
in 1959 as a black family is about to “break
the color line” and move into
an all-white community. As
Act I unfolds, it is slowly revealed that the white couple who are selling
their home, Bev and Russ, are selling because of a family tragedy that has
shaken them and their marriage to its very foundation. The neighbors are disturbed by
the decision to sell to a “colored
family,” and escalating
confrontations take place among Bev, Russ, Rev. Jim and Karl and Betsy. Adding spice to the awkward
conversations are the maid, Francine and her eager-to-please husband,
Albert. At the end of Act
I, Bev and Russ are ready to move and the neighborhood is about to change.
In Act II, the
tables are turned. Fifty
years have passed, and Clybourne Park has long since become a run down
all-black neighborhood. Because
of its strategic location near downtown office spaces, the neighborhood becomes
the target of affluent white families who are eager to buy up the undervalued
properties and “re-gentrify” the old neighborhood. A white couple, Lindsey and Steve, are
planning to tear down the original house and replace it with a much larger
structure that threatens to ruin the architectural and historical integrity of
the neighborhood. The
African American leaders of the neighborhood association use many of the same
arguments that Karl had used fifty years ago to justify keeping the
neighborhood as it is. After
several scenes in which the characters dance around the issue of race with
euphemisms and evasions, the issue finally explodes into shouting and insults
that leave the audience breathless.
The two acts are
the obverse and reverse sides of the same coin. The author has done a masterful job of
stitching together the two halves using several brilliant techniques. The actors who had played roles in Act
I return in Act II to play very different roles. The continuity and the contrasts
provide creative tension that adds to the play’s overall effect. As Act II develops, it becomes clear
that the characters of Tom, Lindsey, Steve, Kathy, Kevin, Lena and Dan have
personal histories that intertwine with the house or with the neighborhood in
ways that tie the actions of 1959 and 2009 together. In addition, the writer uses a
mysterious trunk – buried in Act I and disinterred in Act II – to tie together
the tragedy that haunts the house and its inhabitants.
The
acting by this cast is a series of revelations of dramatic storytelling at its
finest.
Paula Plum plays the beleaguered and
long-suffering wife, Bev, in Act I. In
Act II, she is Kathy, Lindsey and Steve’s lawyer, trying to resolve issues
around zoning and historical commission regulations. She is heart-breaking as
Bev with panic threatening to break through at any moment her carefully
preserved patina of normalcy and calm.
Thomas Derrah and Paula Plum in a scene from SpeakEasy Stage's production of Clybourne Park, running trough April 6 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts. Tickets/info at speakeasystage.com or 617.933.8600. Photo by Craig Bailey/Perspective Photo.
Marvelyn McFarlane plays Francine,
the “colored maid.” in Act I. In Act II, she portrays Lena, a member of The
Property Owners Association, and a great-niece of the woman who had bought the
property in 1959. Her facial
expressions, both as Francine and as Lena who is trying to get to speak her
piece and is often interrupted, are priceless.
Her encounters with her husband in both scenes add a significant layer
of subtext to the plot.
DeLance Minefee is Albert,
Francine’s husband, and Kevin, Lena’s husband.
He balances beautifully the tensions within each character between
deferential respect and repressed rage.
Michael Kaye is Karl, head of
the Neighborhood Association in Act I, and Steve, the buyer of the house in Act
II. This actor revels in the challenge
to play two very different kinds of clueless men, both hiding behind a flowing
torrent of words to conceal ignorance and confusion.
Philana Mia plays the role of
Betsy, Karl’s deaf wife in Act I, and Lindsey, the frustrated buyer and Steve’s
wife in Act II. She is brilliant in both
roles. Betsy’s deafness is used to great
effect as a metaphor for the inability and unwillingness of most of the
characters in this play to truly hear one another.
Tim Spears is
bromide-spewing and smarmy Rev. Jim in Act I, and Attorney Tom in Act II. Both of his characters serve to keep the
action moving and to remind the others that it is almost 4:00 and almost time
to wrap things up. He has a bit of
physical theater in the first act that cuts the building tension with some
well-timed comic relief.
Each actor excels
in their individual performances, but the strength of this cast is their
ensemble work, playing off of one another’s provocations, moments of awkward
silence, glances, sneers and circumlocutions.
Norris wields a
whole tool chest full of literary devices to tell this story. At times he is as subtle and nuanced as a
scalpel, and at other times, he uses brute force to pry open the audience member’s
minds and hearts in much the same way that Dan uses bolt cutters to break the
lock on the mystery chest as the play reaches its denouement.
Sense of place
comes through as a familiar motif. Russ’s
reading of National Geographic allows him to expand his knowledge of world
capitals – Ulan Bator! – while simultaneously hiding behind the magazine to
conceal his inner crumbling topography.
The identity of the capital of Morocco becomes a key point of contention
in Act II. The importance of place takes
on an even deeper sense of poignancy when one considers that the location of
the BCA in Boston’s South End is a neighborhood that has seen its own cycles of
change – decay and re-gentrification.
It would be a “perfect” shame for a lover of theater
to miss out on seeing this superb production.
Audience members have been storming the box office and filling each
seat. As a result, the run of the show
has been extended to April 6.
Enjoy!
Al
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