Clybourne Park at The Dundas Center for the Performing Arts

Clybourne Park is the Pulitzer Prize winning play written by Bruce Norris. Clybourne Park starts off where A Raisin in the Sun Ends. This period piece explores race relations and the gentrification of a Chicago neighborhood. The play is two acts set 50 years apart, with Act 1 taking place in 1959 and Act 2 in 2009. I know that race issues can make some people very uncomfortable but I think the story telling used in the play helped to lighten the mood.

The Cast 

I was able to catch the premiere of this play at the Dundas and I throughly enjoyed myself. The cast did an awesome job of portraying their characters in both parts of the play. It was interesting that the same actors/actresses played both sets of characters, this is the first time I had seen this done before and I enjoyed seeing the contrasts between the characters from each era. The characters are complex and the dialogue ranges from funny, to sad, and critical. One of my favorite characters was Karl in the first act, D. Sean Nottage really brought this character to life. I found his movements and nervous banter hilarious. Clybourne Park is timely, it address issues that we are still dealing with in society today and the message will resonate with a large variety of different viewers.

I don’t want to give any of the story away so I will just say go out and support our Bahamian Actors & Actresses, they do a great job at making this play interesting from the beginning to the end.

Clybourne Park will be showing at The Dundas Center for Performing Arts for 6 days. April 14th, 15th & 16th and then again on April 21st, 22nd & 23rd. Check out some photos from the premiere below.

Tip: Bring a sweater or jacket, in the theater is cold!