“Clybourne Park,” a bracing examination of contemporary social tensions, is currently running through Dec. 11 at The Stagecrafters, 8130 Germantown Ave. Seen here are Mare MIkalic and Sara Osi Scott in a scene from “Clybourne Park.” (Photo by Sara Stewart)[/caption]

by Hugh Hunter

Now playing at Stagecrafters, “Clybourne Park” (2010) by Bruce Norris rides piggyback on “A Raisin in the Sun” (1959) by Lorraine Hansberry. It is a satire that proposes to tackle the interplay between racism and dicey real estate practices.

In “Raisin,” Karl failed to dissuade the black Younger family from buying a house in a white neighborhood. In "Act I -1959" of “Clybourne,” Karl now tries to stop the white family from selling. In "Act II - 2009" we see "gentrification" in action as a white couple try to buy the same house in what has become a black neighborhood.

But real estate practices just give Norris a backdrop for satire. He is only interested in race relations, and he paints a picture in which nothing has changed in 50 years. Silly as ever, we still self-consciously trip over each other in trying to be "nice" until submerged hostilities burst into the open.

Director Catherine Pappas amplifies Norris's script. She casts seven talented actors to play multiple roles. Some, like Neena Boyle, have an easy comic role and a difficult one. Others, like Patrick Cathcart have two hard ones. But all seven perform strongly in putting “Clybourne” across.

Thanks to the set design of Patricia Masarachia, the handsome house almost becomes a character. In act one you see why people want to own it. But the property is transformed into a piece of junk during intermission, and in act two it is like a mute witness to all the racial giddiness and shenanigans.

These people are unintentionally funny, so they also come across as being trivial. Only Russ, the first house owner, stands out. Actor Thomas-Robert Irvin puts a lot into the role, and his explosive disclosure of his family tragedy brings the squabble over selling the house to a dramatic end.

The family tragedy has nothing to do with race or real estate, and you sense that playwright Norris is gaming you. But this interlude works well dramatically. It gives you a "tragic break" from all the ludicrous and stilted chitchat, while the introduction of genuine suffering lays bare everyone's superficiality.

Norris won the Pulitzer Prize for “Clybourne,” and it is easy to see why. Since the success of “Raisin,” group identity issues dominate American theater. Most "serious" plays nowadays are limited to these kinds of questions: what is it like to be a woman or black or homosexual.

“Clybourne” is entertaining as racial satire, but gentrification is about class, as someone like Arthur Miller would have been quick to point out. But our Depression era playwrights have died out, and modern American theater (like our sick national politics) cannot acknowledge the reality of class structure, even when it is staring them in the face.

Stagecrafters is located at 8130 Germantown Ave. “Clybourne Park” will run through Dec 11. Reservations at 215-247-8881.