Clybourne Park

There were a few empty seats and we haven't heard much about this play, so we weren't quite sure what to expect. Maybe not much. But it turned out to be thoroughly enjoying. It was shocking, funny and a great day at the theatre.

This play is an extension of the play, "A Raisin on the Sun", which coincidentally is playing in Hollywood at the Geffen Theatre. That classic play is about the Younger family in 1959 who saves and struggles to move out of the Chicago Projects. They are able to do so because of the Life insurance check the mother Lena receives when her hard working husband passes away. They put a down payment on a house in Clybourne Park, an all white neighborhood.

Karl, a member of the Clybourne Park neighborhood "welcoming committee" tries to buy them out to avoid having a colored family move in, affecting the quality and value of their neighborhood.  In the "A Raisin in the Sun", the family declines even though they are tempted.  As the hopeful end of the play, the moves to their new life in their new home. 

Now enters Clybourne Park. It  is a play that is in two parts. The first part takes place in 1959 and the 2nd part in 2009. Both parts take place in the home of Bev and Russ, the couple who had sold their home to the Younger family.  Bev and Russ are in the midst of moving boxes being helped by their Black house maid, Francine. Karl and his deaf pregnant wife visits them, supposedly right after visiting the Younger family.  Karl tries to convince Bev and Russ to use a loop hole not to sell the house to the Younger family.

The next act takes place in the same home, but in 2009. This time the actors who play Karl and his deaf wife, now play the new owners of the house. They are sitting with the actors who had played the Black house maid, Francine and her husband in the 1959 scene.  The roles are switched and they are now part of the neighborhood association. 

Both couples are accompanied by lawyers. The issue is that Karl and his wife want to remodel the home and it will be a few feet higher than any other house in the neighborhood. Francine doesn't want to lose the sense of history the neighborhood has to offer that she and her family experienced since her Aunt Lena moved in back in 1959.

The 2009 Karl uses the same argument that he used with the Lena Younger and her son Walter.  In 1959, Karl had tried to convince them that they would not be happy in a neighborhood of people who were not the same.  They don't like the same things, different culture and for example, they wouldn't be able to eat the things they liked because they wouldn't be able to buy them at the local Gelman's grocer. Francine's husband, who dropped by to pick her up said deadpan, he would not be happy if Gelman's didn't sell chitlins or pigs feet.  It was funny that in the 2009 scene, they said Gelman's was now the location for Whole Foods.

Back to 1959.  Bev and Russ want to move and escape the reminder of the tragedy that begins to unfold. Their son had returned from the Korean War and was accused of committing war atrocities. As a result of the shame, he commits suicide. The neighborhood shy away from Bev and Russ.  So the last thing they want to do is stay in that house to help neighbors who didn't really help them before.

Back to 2009.  Karl and his wife think that they are not welcomed because of racism, but Francine says the issue is the lack of the sense of style of the home they will be building.

This is a play that portrays the racism of the early years by otherwise very nice White people and how the Blacks at the time had to deal with it. It was also funny as it dares cross the line of political correctness. It is tragic, funny, thought provoking and unique in the way the actors portrays different roles in the two eras within the play.

We would not only see it again, we would see it again later that day. It got a standing ovation from us.

Burn This

I am catching up on all the plays and shows that we’ve seen.  It has been over a year since we’ve seen this play and to be honest, I could not remember it.  So thank goodness for Google and I found reviews of this play and it all comes back to me.

Anna is a dance-choreographer who lives in a loft in Greenwich Village with two gay men, Larry and Robbie.  The play starts with Anna and Larry grieving after hearing that Robbie died suddenly in a boating accident.

Later that evening, Barton, Robbie’s brother bulldozes and staggers into their loft, drunk.  To me, Barton is not good enough for Anna, but there is this underlying attraction for one another.  They finally get together and Barton straightens out, but I still don’t think he was good enough for her.

It was okay and not memorable.

Fela

What a way to start the New Year!  We loved the music, but would we see it again? The music had an African beat with a jazz influence. The dancing was wild and I was exhausted just watching.  The women were dressed in colorful tribal short skirts that portrayed the primitive culture, mixed with sexual sophistication.  The men were dressed in skin tight pants, no shirt and a jacket.  Exuding sexuality as they danced with a lot of pelvic jerks undulations.

The main character is named Fela, pronounced Feelah.  He is the owner and main star of a nightclub that features dancing and songs that protest the oppressive dictatorship of Nigeria.

Fela begins to sing and talk about his life, but first he gets the audience to stand up to learn how to dance.  We are instructed to jerk our hips in a clock direction. So for example, if he says 1 and 8, we jerk our hips at 1 o'clock and 8 o'clock direction.  It was fun and loosened us up.

Fela went to school abroad and was influenced politically when he moved to the US.  It was during the 1960's, time of protests, Black Power, and Malcolm X. He marries a Black woman who pushes him to move back to Nigeria to protest the oppressive regime. It is hard for him because he is arrested and tortured many times. He thinks about leaving, but he stays because of the memory of his mother. She was also a political figure and was killed when Fela's home was invaded and she was thrown from their upper balcony. Her ghost convinces him that he serves a higher purpose to benefit his people.

The singing and dancing was powerful, but at the same time I felt there was too much overt sexuality and anger in the dancing. One girl looked like she was dry humping as she squatted.  Being in the first row, I could tell she looked almost embarrassed as she did it. Maybe it was the look of some of the audience members in the front row. Also, one of the other girls had this contemptuous, angry look as she turned upstage. Was she portraying the attitude of the oppressed?  I don't know, but it was a turn off.

We thoroughly enjoyed the music and dancing, but it wasn't enough for us to want to see it again.