The most famous and debatably best play the famous actor Bruce Norris has ever written was Clybourne Park. The retort to the play A Raisin in the Sun won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 2012 Tony Award for Best Play and 2012 Theatre World Award. The play opened on Broadway after its initial premiere in Playwrights Horizons New York City, and has had several productions.
Clybourne Park tells the tale of what Bruce Norris imagined happened before and after the hit play by Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun. The first act could, in theory, be placed before the Hansberry’s play, then ending with the second act in Norris’ play. It shows the story of the family that lived in the house of the Youngs in A Raisin in the Sun, then the aftermath of the family living in the neighborhood, as it turned into a predominantly black little society.
The play, similarly to Hansberry’s play, attacks and confronts several important themes, whilst having a comical outlook and way to reach the audience. Instead of mainly focusing on the problem of racial discrimination though, Norris’ play drives on a different path several times in the play. Veteran phycological problems, lack of help, and gentrification are discussed and addressed in the play.
