Columbus State tackles race relations in its new show ‘Clybourne Park’

The Department of Theatre at Columbus State University is mounting a complex show this week.

“Clybourne Park” is a play that unabashedly tackles the taboo social topics of gentrification, discrimination, gender and race relations in the 21^st century.

A winner of both the Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, “Clybourne Park” was written by Bruce Norris in 2010 as a response to Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun.” Shortly after it debuted, The New York Times called it a “sharp-witted, sharp-toothed comedy of American uneasiness.”

It’s ability to address race in an uncomfortably comfortable way is what has made the play a popular topic of discussion.

“Clybourne Park” is comprised of two acts set in the same house in one community during different decades. The plot mirrors America’s past and present struggles with race as a society as it examines two sets of homeowners encountering two very different, yet starkly similar situations decades apart from each other.

Act I is set in 1959 and focuses on a middle-aged white suburban couple who has unknowingly sold their home to a black family.

Act II is set in Clybourne Park 50 years later. This time though, a white couple moves into the house and a neighborhood that is now predominantly black. Audience members quickly find that although the demographics of the neighborhood have changed, the same issues underlying the social conflicts of the ’50s are still rearing their heads in the present.

David Turner, an associate professor of theater at CSU, is directing the show. He said he is more than aware of the play’s challenges — both for the thespians and for the audience.

“The play is structured so that the same seven actors play different characters in each act/decade — symbolizing the universality of the situation,” he said. “This casting provides both incredible acting challenges and unflinching social purpose for those involved. It is at one moment wildly funny, and then chillingly poignant in the next.”

Turner has been very impressed with the students’ professionalism and level of performance in rehearsal thus far.

“‘Clybourne Park’ is a beautifully written piece, and the student actors are doing a phenomenal job,” he said. “Even as the director, I frequently find myself forgetting that I’m watching a play during rehearsals.”

Turner says “Clybourne Park” is a work that challenges audiences in a good way.

“Live theater is fleeting — it only exists between the opening of the show and the final applause,” he said. “The only way the show lives on is if people talk about it afterward. This show will have people talking and debating for a while.”

This story was originally published April 1, 2017 at 10:28 AM with the headline "Columbus State tackles race relations in its new show ‘Clybourne Park’."