Review: Mad Cow's Brilliant CLYBOURNE PARK Continues Important Legacy

"What happens to a dream deferred?

Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Or does it explode?"

Just eight years after Langston Hughes first published those perfect words, boundary-breaking playwright Lorraine Hansberry referenced them in the title of what became arguably the most important work to ever grace a Broadway stage. Then, nearly 51 years later, Bruce Norris picked up the threads of Hansberry's A RAISIN IN THE SUN and used them to tell a new story that addressed modern racism, gentrification, and depression.

Now, running through September 6th, Mad Cow Theatre has brought to their stage an exemplary production of Norris' surprisingly funny CLYBOURNE PARK that is so full of intelligence, talent, and compassion that it can't help but engage Orlando theatre audiences in this discussion that has become vitally important given tragic events in our country over the past year.

Norris' play, which won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize and the Tony for Best Play the following year, begins in 1959, before RAISIN even ends. In the home that will eventually belong to the Youngers, we meet Russ and Bev Stoller (Thomas Ouellette and Robin Olson respectively) as they prepare to move away from Clybourne Park. Early on, the Stollers exchange apparently meaningless chit-chat for what boarders on being an interminable amount of time. However, as mundane as the talk of ice cream and world geography might be, it becomes increasingly evident that something is simmering just beneath the uncomfortable small-talk. The pleasantries and superficial conversations are simply covering up the fact that this couple cannot bring themselves to discuss the heavy load obviously weighing them down.

As more people enter the home for various reasons, what was once simmering, boils to an inevitable explosion. Francine (Trenell Mooring), the Stoller's African-American housekeeper, desperately wants to leave for the day, but her well-intentioned husband Albert (Michael Sapp) prolongs their stay. At Bev's request, Pastor Jim (Adam Reilly) stops by for an unwelcome conversation with Russ, before a frantic Karl Linder (Matt Horohoe), the only character from A RAISIN IN THE SUN to reappear, shows up with his pregnant wife Betsy (Sarah French), furious at being spurned by the Youngers yet again.

What unfolds from there is a fascinating and affecting look at how we react to the realization that the way of life to which we are accustomed is increasingly being put in danger; a theme that Norris weaves seamlessly throughout the play's second half as well.

Act II fast forwards 50 years to 2009, but takes place in the same home, which is now in much different shape than when we last left it. While all of the actors are back for the second act, they each play a different character, all of whom have a specific opinion of a zoning disagreement surrounding the house. Not unlike in the first act, what begins as a pleasant, if not meandering, exchange of niceties, Act II eventually devolves into a violently funny assault on contemporary race relations.

The Mad Cow cast is uniformly fantastic as they explore complex issues with honesty and empathy. Each member provides unique, nuanced shades to characters that, in lesser hands, could become flat and opaque. Under the brilliantly balanced direction of Bobbie Bell, it is easy to find both fault and favor in each of the show's complicated characters. As in real life, no one in CLYBOURNE PARK has the market cornered on moral authority, which allows each actor opportunities to construct specific, dynamic characters.

Horohoe's transformation from Linder to new home-owner Steve is the starkest transition of any actor. In a show of outstanding performances, his provides the most to think about long after the show has ended. Likewise, Mooring is exceptionally compelling, especially in an expanded role in the second act.

Ouellette's Russ is both frustrating and heart-breaking in the first act, while the pained patience of Olson's Bev underscores the tumult living in that house has brought them both.

As the wife to both of Horohoe's characters, French is disarmingly charming in both acts, but displays both bite and comedic chops in Act II. Sapp embodies his characters, Albert and Kevin, with a recognizable humanity, as he often (unsuccessfully) tries to keep the peace. Reilly's Jim provides a particularly smarmy foil for Russ in the first act.

Garrett Jurss also appears in a small, but powerful, role.

The beauty of Norris' script is not just that it gives voice to difficult questions that many would prefer to leave unspoken, but that it does so in an inventively elegant manner.

The two acts, while focusing on very different conflicts, overlap in evocative ways large and small. However, at the center of each is the inherent difficulty that people have communicating with one another, especially when discussing uncomfortable topics; a truism highlighted by the fact that Betsy is deaf, and largely remains isolated from the first act fray.

Whether from an acting, directing, or dramaturgical standpoint, there is plenty at which to marvel in this beautiful production of a brilliant play.

If you do not need to rush out during intermission, watching the stage crew transform William Elliott's set from 1950s' sophisticated to 2000s' dilapidated is an added bit of entertainment.

CLYBOURNE PARK, the most satisfying and impactful show I have seen at Mad Cow, runs through September 6th in Downtown Orlando. While I would encourage you to see the show on any night, I would highly suggest going on either a Thursday or a Sunday, and staying for the post-show talkback with this thoughtful, insightful, and charming cast. To purchase your tickets, visit Mad Cow's website or call 407-297-8788.

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Did you visit Chicago's Clybourne Park? Do you think that it live up to the legacy of A RAISIN IN THE SUN? Let me know what you thought in the comments below, or by "Liking" and following BWW Orlando on Facebook and Twitter. You can also chat with me about the show on Twitter @BWWMatt.

1) Sarah French, Matt Horohoe, Trenell Mooring, Thomas Ouellette, and Michael Sapp: Tom Hurst | Mad Cow Theatre
2) Adam Reilly, Robin Olson, Trenell Mooring, and Matt Horohoe: Tom Hurst | Mad Cow Theatre
3) Sarah French, Matt Horohoe, Adam Reilly, Trenell Mooring, and Michael Sapp: Tom Hurst | Mad Cow Theatre

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