PRODUCTION INFORMATION

CREATIVE TEAM
Directed by Ethan Felizzari & Brendan Noble
Produced by Ethan Felizzari
Assistant Director
Stage Manager
Scenic Design
Lighting Designer

Christina Fink
Josh Bieling
Rodrigo Escalante
Larry Saperstein &
Rodrigo Escalante
Sydnee LaBuda
Joey Valenti

Costume Design
Sound Design
CAST LIST
RUSS / DAN
BEV / CATHY
FRANCINE / LENA
JIM / TOM
ALBERT / KEVIN
KARL / STEVE
BETSY / LINDSEY

Dean Schildkraut
Alicia James/Kami Crary
Jasmine LaRocca
Nicholas Camacho
Leyland Patrick
Vinny LaManna
Amanda Galasso/
Sydnee LaBuda
Terrence Sheldon

KENNETH

UNDERSTUDIES
Bev / Cathy - Maria Nadia Michaels
Betsy / Lindsey - Frankie Occhino
Male Understudy - Brendan Noble
REHEARSAL SCHEDULE
February 22nd 7-10pm - Table Read / Cast Bonding
February 23rd7-10pm - Table Work
February 27th 1-3:30pm - Table Work
February 29th7-10pm - Blocking Act 2
March 1st 8-10pm - Blocking Act 2
March 5th1-4pm - Finish Act 2
March 7th8-10:30pm - Clean / Run Act 2
March 8th8-10:30pm - Blocking Act 1
March 12th 1-4pm- Blocking Act 1
March 14th8-10:30pm - Blocking Act 1
March 15th7-10pm - Finish / Clean Act 1
March 16th7-10:30pm - Catch Up / Run Full Show
March 17th7-10:30pm - Table Work / Run Full Show
March 19th4-10pm - Full Run Through / Cue to Cue
March 20th4-10pm - Cue to Cue
March 21st-March 23rd 6-11pm - Tech Week
SHOW TIMES
March 24th @ 7pm
March 26th @ 8pm
April 2nd @ 8pm

March 25th @ 8pm

April 1st @ 8pm
April 3rd @ 2pm

CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS
Act I, September 1959
Russ Stoller: A man who is unable to get over the loss of his son and is moving out of the house in which
his son committed suicide.
Bev Stoller: Married to Russ. Cheerful woman who wants to help her husband overcome his grief for the
loss of their son.
Francine: Russ and Bevs housekeeper who is inadvertently pulled into a debate concerning the
neighborhood and the possible change of its demographic.
Albert: Married to Francine. Helpful man, trying to keep himself and his wife out of the neighborhoods
argument.
Jim: The local pastor. Asked by the homeowners association to convince Russ and Bev not to sell their
home to a black family.
Karl: President of the Clybourne Park Improvement Association Determined to preserve his
neighborhood and property value by trying to stop the sale of the home to a black family.
Betsy: Karls pregnant, deaf wife who becomes lost in the conversation as it turns more volatile.

Act II, September 2009

Steve: Married to Lindsey. The new homeowner who wants to renovate his new house to a larger scale
than the historical single-family-home model.
Lindsey: Steves pregnant wife. Hearing. Fighting to understand why the community is against her
renovations and to convince them otherwise.
Kathy: Lawyer helping the new homeowners negotiate a petition brought against them by the
homeowners association concerning planned renovations for their home. (Daughter of Betsy & Karl)
Lena: Determined to keep her neighborhood a historical district and prevent the new homeowners
planned renovations. (Great-niece of former resident of Clybourne Street)
Kevin: Married to Lena. Defending his wifes desire to preserve the neighborhood.
Tom: Neighbor/lawyer arguing for preserving the historical look of the community on behalf of Lena &
Kevin.
Dan: Workman beginning the renovations for the homes new owners.

FULL SHOW SYNOPSIS

(*SPOILER ALERT*)
Act I: 1959
Bev and Russ are middle class White Americans. They live in Clybourne Park, a White neighborhood of Chicago. They grieve
the loss of their only son, Kenneth. They cant seem to break free from his memory because the house reminds them of his death.
To escape his memory, they have decided to move. When we meet them, we meet a house full of boxes. Theres a large trunk
upstairs that Russ plans to bring down, but Bev wants their maid to do it. At the start of the play, Russ sits in the living room
listening to music and eating Neapolitan ice cream. Bev and Russ banter and make small talk about the Neapolitan ice cream.
They wonder and hypothesize where the name came from and why. The conversation is desperate and trying, but the effort is
evident. Meanwhile, Francine, Bev and Russ maid does much of the packing. Bev attempts to give Francine things that she and
Russ wish to discard. Francine politely declines the offers. Bev reminisces on a joke that Russ told the Rotary club the year
before, but Russ doesnt care about it. He insists on severing his ties with the community. Bev and Russ receive a call from Karl
Lindner, a representative of their housing association. Its evident that this isnt the first call from him. While Bev is on the phone,
Jim, their youthful minister, lets himself in. Jim shares some stories with Russ to open him up to conversation. Bev asks him his
thoughts on Neapolitan ice cream. Jim and Russ talk about Russ new office. Jim eventually turns the conversation to the topic of
Kenneth. Russ doesnt want to talk about it, but Jim pushes the issue. Jims lack of deep, empathetic understanding angers Russ
so much that he tells Jim to go fuck himself. Bev enters just as Russ blows up at Jim. They have a candid, but short, argument
about Kenneth. Jim brings up the fact that he also served in the military, but Russ asks him how many people he killed. Russ
implies that his son killed many people. The doorbell rings. Its Albert, Francines husband. Hes here to pick up Francine.
Against Francines wishes, Albert offers to help move the trunk for Bev and Russ. Albert opens the door to take some things out
to the car before they leave and Karl Lindner is standing there, about to ring the doorbell. Theyre surprised to see Karl. Hes left
his wife Betsy in the car. Karl is a representative of the Neighborhood Association and Betsy, his wife, is deaf and pregnant. They
implore Karl to bring his wife inside. The group of neighbors talks about their problems and concerns. We learn that Karl and
Betsys first pregnancy didnt come to term because the umbilical cord was around the babys neck. Karl tries to persuade Russ
and Bev to reconsider selling their home revealing that they have unknowingly sold their home to a Black family. Karls concern
is that the neighborhood is going to undergo White Flight and the property values will go down. While never stated explicitly, we
realize that the Black family that has bought the house is the Younger family from A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry. A
passionate discussion breaks out as the characters sift through their complicated feelings about living next door to a Black family.
The White characters attempt to involve Francine, Bev and Russ maid, and her husband Albert. They are surprised to find that
Francine and Albert have their own opinions and feelings towards White communities. The emotions and the political heat rise
until Russ has had enough. He commands everyones attention as he begins to read the suicide note that Kenneth left. He
chastises the community of Clybourne Park for their lack of empathy and support towards his family. He orders everyone to leave
his house. When he and Bev are once again alone, the cycle of grief continues. We realize there is no answer for their suffering.

Act II: 2009

Fifty years pass. Clybourne Park has become a predominately Black neighborhood. The once well-cared for house is in shambles.
However, the neighborhood is beginning to undergo gentrification. Lindsey and Steve, a White couple, are planning to buy the
house and renovate it. They plan to completely change the architecture of the house. Before they can change the house, they have
to meet with representatives of the Neighborhood Association. Lena and Kevin, a Black couple, are the representatives and they
dont want Lindsey and Steve to change the architectural integrity of the neighborhood. The characters go through the legal terms
of the contract with the lawyer and real estate agent. Meanwhile, their contractor examines the house.
We learn that the proximity of the house to the city, where Steve and Lindsey both work, is a major factor in their decision to
move to the neighborhood. Lena expresses her emotional attachment to this house. Her legitimate concern is considered
momentarily before the conversation is derailed again. Lena convinces everyone to keep the meeting moving by turning off their
distracting cell phones and sticking to the topic. Shes waited patiently to express herself in a respectful way. They discuss the
history of the neighborhood that goes as far back as German immigrants. Kevin is offended by how the conversation about the
history of the neighborhood becomes an attack on Black people. Steve asks for everyone to admit that the entire subtext of the
conversation is informed by Race. His statement launches the characters into a fueled exchange about whether or not racism is
part of the difficulty they are having in addressing the changes to the property. They challenge each others notions of what is
considered offensive. They accuse each other of being racists. The characters jab at each other with racial, sexist and homophobic
jokes. They become offended when they feel that their particular group has been belittled. During the damaging conversation, the
contractor drags in a trunk. It was buried in the backyard. He found it while examining the septic tank. The conversation escalates
to absurd proportions and matters regarding the house are unresolved. When the trunk is opened, its revealed that it belonged to
Bev and Russ son Kenneth. When everyone leaves, Dan begins to read the suicide letter he finds in the trunk. The ghosts of Bev
and Kenneth return. We realize we are witnessing the moments before Kenneth takes his life.

A RAISIN IN THE SUN & CLYBOURNE PARK

Clybourne Park responds to one of the most celebrated plays in American
drama: A Raisin in the Sun. Playwright Bruce Norris directly connects the two plays. In A Raisin in the
Sun, the Younger family buys a house in the Clybourne Park neighborhood. Clybourne Park takes place in
that house.
When Lorraine Hansberrys A Raisin in the Sun opened on Broadway in 1959, it became the first play by
an African-American woman to do so. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the New York Drama
Critic Circle Award for Best New Play, and was nominated for four Tony awards. On the 25th anniversary
of the play, the New York Times called A Raisin in the Sun the play that changed American theater
forever.
In A Raisin in the Sun, five family members share a small, three-room apartment Lena (Mama) Younger,
her daughter Beneatha, her son Walter Lee, Walters wife Ruth, and their son Travis. When Mama
receives a life insurance check after her husbands death, each member of the family argues it should be
used to further their own individual dreams. Eventually, Mama decides to use the money as a down
payment for a house with enough room for the entire family. With their own house, she sees a bright
future for her family.
The house is located in Clybourne Park, an entirely white neighborhood. When the residents of Clybourne
Park learn that an African-American family bought the house, they send Karl Lindner, a representative
from the Clybourne Park Improvement Association, to visit the family. He offers them money in
exchange for not moving into the neighborhood. However, Lindner fails to convince the family, and,
refusing the money, the optimistic Youngers move to Clybourne Park.
In the original New York Times review of the play, Brook Atkinson noted:
In A Raisin in the Sun ... Lorraine Hansberry touches on some serious problems. No doubt, her feelings
about them are as strong as anyones. But she has not tipped her play to prove one thing or another. The
play is honest. She has told the inner as well as the outer truth about a Negro family in the South Side of
Chicago at the present time ... That is Miss Hansberrys personal contribution to an explosive situation in
which simple honesty is the most difficult thing in the world. And also the most illuminating.
Lorraine Hansberry believed in finding the universal through the specific saying, one of the most sound
ideas in dramatic writing is that, in order to create the universal, you must pay very great attention to the
specific. In a 1961 interview on A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry elaborated:
I dont think there is anything more universal in the world than mans oppression of man. This is what
most great dramas have been about, no matter what the device of telling it is. We tend to think, because it
is so immediate with us in the United States, that this is a unique human question where white people do
not like black people ... but the fact of the matter is wherever there are men, there are oppressed people
and ... to the extent that my work is successful piece of drama it makes it a reality of this oppression true.
Since its premiere in 1959, the play has been translated into thirty languages. The play became a film in
1961, starring Sidney Poiter and most of the original Broadway cast. Since then, the play has also been
made into two made-for-TV movies, once in 1989 starring Danny Glover, and again in 2008, starring
Sean Combs.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: BRUCE NORRIS

Bruce Norris is a 1982 graduate of Northwestern University with a degree in theater. Norris began his career as an
actor, appearing in productions at Victory Gardens and the Goodman, as well as on Broadway in Neil Simons Biloxi
Blues. He also appeared in film, playing the stuttering teacher in 1999s The Sixth Sense. In the late 1990s, Norris
committed himself to playwriting full time, moving from Chicago to New York. In addition to Clybourne Park, Norris
has written The Infidel (2000), Purple Heart (2002), We All Went Down to Amsterdam (2003), The Pain and the Itch
(2004), and The Unmentionables (2006), all of which had their premieres at Chicagos Steppenwolf Theatre. His
newest play, A Parallelogram, premiered there in July 2011. His work has also been seen at Playwrights Horizons
(New York), Lookingglass Theatre (Chicago), Philadelphia Theatre Company, Woolly Mammoth Theatre
(Washington D.C.), Staatstheater Mainz (Germany), and The Galway Festival (Ireland), among others. He is the
recipient of the Steinberg Playwright Award (2009), The Whiting Foundation Prize for Drama (2006), as well as two
Joseph Jefferson Awards (Chicago) for Best New Work. As an actor he can be seen in the films A Civil Action, The
Sixth Sense, and the recent All Good Things.

BRUCE NORRIS ON CLYBOURNE PARK

I saw A Raisin in the Sun as a film in probably seventh grade. Interestingly our Social Studies teacher
was showing it to a class of all white students who lived in an independent school district, the boundaries
of which had been formed specifically to prevent our being integrated into the Houston school district and
being bussed to other schools with black students.
So I dont know whether our teacher was just obtuse, or crafty and subversive, but she was showing us a
movie that basically in the end -- because Karl doesnt come in until the second act -- is really pointing a
finger at us and saying we are those people. So I watch it at twelve years old and I could realize even then
that Im Karl Lindner. To see that when youre a kid and to realize that youre the villain has an impact.
For years I thought I wanted to play Karl Lindner but then as time went on I thought its really an
interesting story to think about the conversation that was going on in the white community about the
Younger family moving into Clybourne Park. It percolated for many years and thats how I ended up
writing this play.
It was very important to me to depict the people in 1959 as people with good intentions. Theyre not
racists in the KKK way theyre people who think that theyre doing the right thing to protect their
neighborhood and their children and their real estate values. But thats a form of self-interest that has as
its unfortunate byproduct a really racist outcome.
Pretty much every big city has some version of this. Even where I grew up in Houston, its a similar
thing. There is no actual Clybourne Park in Chicago. Or, to be strictly accurate, there is a playground
called Clybourn [sic] Park on Clybourn Avenue, but there is no neighborhood called Clybourne [or
Clybourn] Park. That is something Lorraine Hansberry made up. If you want to have an example of the
kind of neighborhood were talking about, it would be Wicker Park or Ukrainian Village in Chicago.
More Wicker Park. Wicker Park is a neighborhood that was mostly Latino for about 25 years, and its
very close to where Cabrini-Green used to be. Cabrini-Green was a big, dangerous housing project, which
is about three or four blocks from where Steppenwolf Theatre is now.

THEMES
GENTRIFICATION
gentrification (noun)
: the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into
deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents
Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary
The second act of Clybourne Park tackles the polarizing debate surrounding gentrification. For some,
gentrification means the revitalization of inner city neighborhoods and the creation of new buildings in
place of vacant lots, new business selling an increased variety of goods, and improvements to public
works like sidewalks. However, to others, gentrification means the displacement of neighborhood
residents due to rising costs of living and property values. Does a neighborhood loses its historical
identity when it becomes a more affluent area?

COMMUNITY
Clybourne Park asks the question, what makes a community? How do people join together with a
common purpose of living together and supporting each other? Is that even possible? In Act I, the
character of Karl Lindner says fitting into a community is really what it all comes down to. How do
communities welcome or exclude people based on whether or not they fit in?

RACIAL COMEDY
Is America ready for racial comedy? Bruce Norris asks this question in Clybourne Park, sparing almost no
group the punch line. Juxtaposing the comedy of 1959 with 2009, Norris emphasizes Americas
complicated history with racial jokes.
The 1960s marked a significant shift in racial comedy a transition from blatantly racist humor in the
tradition of blackface minstrel shows, to racial humor in which exposing peoples prejudice is the punch
line.
What is it that racial jokes do in contemporary society? Perhaps, as Emily Hoffman comments in
American Conservatory Theaters Words on Plays, laughter is a release valve, and in the context of tense
race relations it can provide just the sort of breathing room needed to wrestle with issues that would
otherwise be too difficult or uncomfortable to touch.

POLITICAL CORRECTNESS
Much of the comedy in Clybourne Park comes from the need to be politically correct and what happens
when characters cross that line. With comic moments about race, gender, disability, sexuality, etc, Bruce
Norris reveals a world in which political correctness stifles conversation and yet protects people. Is
political correctness necessary or does it inhibit peoples ability to talk to one another?

In an interview with American Conservatory Theater, Bruce Norris commented, theoretically [political
correctness] is a step. So, now that weve all been very careful, you think that after some time goes by
things will be normalized. We white people (because we are the oppressors) sit around going, Is it time
now? Has enough time elapsed? ... But of course that never happens, so white people feel resentful
because we realize the past is going to hang around our necks like millstones forever. There is no end.
Even if we gave reparation payments, still it wouldnt be enough.