American Conservatory Theater: Clybourne Park by Bruce Norris

Clybourne Park

Extended! January 20–February 20, 2011

West Coast Premiere

by Bruce Norris
Directed by Jonathan Moscone

Where A Raisin in the Sun ends,
a new conversation moves in.

Running time: 2 hours
There will be one 20-minute intermission.

Highest rating! "Richly comic and unexpectedly moving . . . as unsettlingly immediate as it is exhilarating"
—San Francisco Chronicle
Read the entire review.

Winner of the 2010 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best New Play and a "Top 10 of 2010" selection for Entertainment Weekly, the New Yorker, the New York Times, Time Out New York, and the Washington Post

Home is where the heart—and history—is in Clybourne Park, a "buzz-saw sharp new comedy" (The Washington Post) that cleverly spins the events of A Raisin in the Sun to tell an unforgettable new story about race and real estate in America. Act I opens in 1959, as a white couple sells their home to a black family, causing uproar in their middle-class Chicago neighborhood. Act II transports us to the same house in 2009, when the stakes are different, but the debate is strikingly familiar. Adamant provocateur Bruce Norris launches his characters into lightning-quick repartee as they scramble for control of the situation, revealing how we can—and can't—distance ourselves from the stories that linger in our houses.

"Bitingly humorous and sharply critical . . . a masterpiece" —Examiner.com

"Dynamic, hilarious . . . beautifully performed . . . an evening of marvelous theater"
—KGO Radio

"Riveting . . . draws laughs and squirms . . . Norris makes points with comedy that couldn't possibly be made any other way." —San Jose Mercury News

"A spiky and damningly insightful new comedy" —The New York Times

"Brilliant ensemble work in a magnificent new play" —The Huffington Post

"Marvelously cheeky" —Marin Independent Journal

"Completely audacious, architecturally ingenious entertainment" —Entertainment Weekly

"Outrageously funny and squirm-inducing" —The Independent (London)

"A hilarious, devastatingly spot-on play" —MotherJones.com

"Surely the funniest play you'll ever see about racism. Actually, it may be one of the funniest plays you'll ever see about anything." —KQED.org

"With an irascible fearlessness, [Norris] flies in the face of political correctness." —Los Angeles Times

"A lively, darkly humorous affair . . . remarkably perceptive, hilarious, and surprisingly poignant" —Associated Press

"[A] buzz-saw sharp new comedy . . . of inadvertent bad manners" —The Washington Post

"Superb, elegantly written, and hilarious" —The New Yorker

"The funniest play of the year" —London Evening Standard

"Genius" —The Times of London

"Must-see theater . . . squirminess never felt so entertaining."
—Stark Insider

Made possible by

Playwrights Horizons, Inc., New York City, produced the world premiere of Clybourne Park off Broadway in 2010.

Prologue
January 25, 5:30 p.m.
Get inside the artistic process—come early for a preperformance discussion with the director and a member of the A.C.T. artistic staff.

Audience Exchanges
February 1, 7 p.m.
February 6, 2 p.m.
February 8, 8 p.m.
February 9, 2 p.m.
After the show, stick around for a lively Q&A session with the actors, moderated by a member of the A.C.T. artistic staff.

Theater on the Couch
January 28, 8 p.m.
Join members of the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis for an exciting postperformance discussion that explores the psychological aspects of the show and addresses audience questions.

OUT with A.C.T.
February 2, 8 p.m.
LGBT night at A.C.T. features a catered afterparty and a cast meet and greet. Visit www.act-sf.org/out for more information about how to subscribe to OUT nights.

New for Clybourne Park!
Join us for Experts Talk Back, a new postshow discussion series featuring local experts who will lead discussions about many of the provocative topics that percolate throughout the production—and their relevance to the Bay Area.

• Thursday, January 27, 2011, following the 8 p.m. performance:
University of California, Berkeley Professor Richard Walker, who specializes in urban and economic geography, will be in conversation with Beatrice Basso, dramaturg for Clybourne Park.

• Thursday, February 3, 2011, following the 8 p.m. performance:
Elvin Padilla, executive director of the Tenderloin Economic Development Project, will be in conversation with Brenda Payton, acclaimed Oakland Tribune journalist, who has written extensively on discrimination, poverty, and gentrification.

• Thursday, February 10, 2011, following the 8 p.m. performance:
Stanford University Professor Michael Kahan, who specializes in 19th- and 20th-century social history, will be in conversation with Scott Miller of the Oakland Zoning Commission.

Discussions are free for ticket holders. Please note that performance times vary.

Eat, drink, and park for less at Bar Adagio!

Stop in at Bar Adagio before you see Clybourne Park and you'll save 20% off your entire bill and enjoy $5 parking (for up to five hours—food/drink purchase required) at the lot facing the Hotel Adagio, just off Shannon Court. Simply present your ticket for that evening's performance to enjoy this special discount. For more information, call 415.775.5000.

Cast

Rene Augesen
(Bev/Kathy )

Anthony Fusco
(Russ/Dan)

Emily Kitchens
(Betsy/ Lindsey)

Gregory Wallace
(Albert/Kevin)

Manoel Felciano
(Jim/Tom/Kenneth)

Omozé Idehenre
(Francine/Lena)

Richard Thieriot
(Karl/Steve)

Creative Team

Bruce Norris (Playwright)
Jonathan Moscone (Director)
Ralph Funicello (Scenic Designer)
Katherine Roth (Costume Designer)
Alexander V. Nichols (Lighting Designer)
Jeff Mockus (Sound Designer)
Beatrice Basso (Dramaturg)
Elisa Guthertz (Stage Manager)
Megan Q. Sada (Assistant Stage Manager)

Insight into the Play, the Playwright, and the Production

Each entertaining and informative issue of Words on Plays, A.C.T.'s in-depth performance guide series, contains a synopsis, advance program notes, study questions, and additional background information about the historical and cultural context of the play.

Words on Plays is available for purchase in the lobby of the theater during performances or online ($12 each + postage and handling or $5 each for the electronic edition). For more information about how to subscribe to a full or partial season, click here.

Words on Plays Prepared by
Elizabeth Brodersen, Publications Editor
Dan Rubin, Publications & Literary Associate
Michael Paller, Resident Dramaturg
Beatrice Basso, Production Dramaturg
Emily Hoffman, Publications Fellow
Zachary Moull, Dramaturgy Fellow

Table of Contents

1.	Characters, Cast, and Synopsis of Clybourne Park
3.	The Freedom to Provoke: An Interview with Playwright Bruce Norris by Beatrice Basso
13.	Aging 50 Years in 15 Minutes: An Interview with Scenic Designer Ralph Funicello by Emily Hoffman
18.	To Signify or Not to Signify: Costume Designer Katherine Roth on Clybourne Park
20.	What Is Gentrification? by Dan Rubin
27.	Race and the City: Gentrification in Chicago and San Francisco by Dan Rubin
35.	City of Neighborhoods: A History of Racial Division in Chicago (PDF) by Zachary Moull
41.	The Way to 406 Clybourne Street: The Connections between Clybourne Park and A Raisin in the Sun by Dan Rubin
44.	Art for Society's Sake: The Legacy of Lorraine Hansberry and A Raisin in the Sun by Dan Rubin
50.	Can We Laugh Yet? A Brief History of Race and Comedy in America (PDF) by Emily Hoffman
56.	What's in a Name? From "African" to "African American" and the Steps In Between by Beatrice Basso
59.	Questions to Consider / For Further Information . . . (PDF)

Adobe Reader is required to view A.C.T. publications.

Production Photos

Click to view larger images from Clybourne Park. All photographs by Erik Tomasson.

Video Trailer for Clybourne Park at A.C.T.

Clybourne Park: Behind the Scenes Between the Acts

Watch a time-lapse video of the set transformation during the intermission of Clybourne Park

On the A.C.T. Blog

Friday, January 28, 2011
Clybourne Park: Behind the Scenes Between the Acts
A time-lapse video of the set transformation during the intermission of Clybourne Park

Friday, January 14, 2011
The Rings of the City: On Class, Race, and the Urban American Landscape
An interview with UC Berkeley Professor Richard Walker

Friday, January 7, 2011
Shades of Laughter
posted by Beatrice Basso, Dramaturg