While all politely acknowledge that Clybourne Park is now economically blighted, Lena speaks considerably about honoring the stories of the people who have lived in the neighborhood for decades. The new home buyers speak of how much they, too, "love" the neighborhood, implying that their aim is to improve it through the gentrification their plans will bring.
For all the polite dancing around legal issues and honoring of the lives and traditions of those who went before, it takes Steve to finally say the word nobody wants to utter: race.
9820 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
Category: Theaters
Region: Culver City
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When Lena counters that the issue is actually the size and scale of Lindsey and Steve's McMansion, that the issue is really taste, you can hear echoes of Hansberry's Karl Linder and his anthropological arguments about food and culture, and that despite the headway made by Brown vs. Board of Education and the civil rights movement, birds of a feather still flock together. And you can hear Norris' mockery of idealism's veneer.
Center Theatre Group is here fulfilling a role carved by founding Artistic Director Gordon Davidson, to produce plays that grapple with race relations. Under Artistic Director Michael Ritchie, however, CTG has slowly evolved into less of a producing entity than a presenting one. CTG holds three theaters in its dominion (the Taper, the Douglas and the Ahmanson). Rather than building new plays from the ground up, it has imported these two spectacular productions (one local, one from New York) in order to address a theme of searing national relevance. With this duo of plays, CTG is more of a curator than a producer. Though it's a welcome curatorial choice, it's a sign of the times for our larger institutional theaters, and their capacity for economic viability while fulfilling some larger purpose.
A RAISIN IN THE SUN | By Lorraine Hansberry | Presented by Ebony Repertory Theatre and Center Theatre Group at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City | Tues.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 1 & 6:30 p.m. | Through Feb. 19 | (213) 628-2772 | centertheatregroup.org
CLYBOURNE PARK | By Bruce Norris | Presented by Center Theatre Group at the Mark Taper Forum, 135 N. Grand Ave., dwntwn. | Tues.-Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2:30 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 1 & 6:30 p.m. | Through Feb. 26 | (213) 628-2772 | centertheatregroup.org
Nice point about CTG working as curators, here. I am thrilled that LA audiences have the opportunity to see both these exceptional plays and I truly hope they do.
BTW -- re "(For the punch line, see the play.)" -- that outrageous yet bitingly funny joke only truly works when the set-up is delivered in the plural...
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