Review: 'Raisin,' 'Clybourne Park' End Runs in Boston

Boston audiences have one last chance to see both the Huntington Theatre Company's knockout production of Lorraine Hansberry's landmark 1959 drama "A Raisin in the Sun" and its modern-day follow-up, "Clybourne Park," running coincidentally in tandem at SpeakEasy Stage in the Boston Center for the Arts. "Raisin" rings down its final curtain on Sunday, April 7 at 2 p.m. in the BU Theatre, 264 Huntington Street. "Clybourne Park" ends its run with two shows on Saturday, April 6 at 4 and 8 p.m., in the Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, 539 Tremont Street.

In "A Raisin in the Sun," Liesl Tommy's daring direction and her no-holds-barred cast bring clarity and insight into the desperation and bravery of a multi-generational Black family from Chicago who want nothing more than to buy a home and achieve a piece of the American Dream so readily available to White families living in the suburbs. Confronted by the thinly veiled racism of a neighborhood association determined to keep their community "safe" from conflict, the Youngers square off against each other and the status quo, with each family member ultimately standing up and standing tall, individually and together.

The central performances by LeRoy McClain as a tormented Walter Lee Younger and Kimberly Scott as his rock-solid widowed mother Lena are quite simply devastating. They are each fierce, sympathetic, and, in their own unique ways, palpably, imperfectly human. This "Raisin in the Sun" is both illuminating and stunning. Its impact is heart-wrenching and haunting.

"Clybourne Park" picks up where "A Raisin in the Sun" leaves off, taking its name from the all-white community to which the Younger family wants to move. Act One takes place in 1959 and opens with the same association that tried to keep the Youngers from buying into their neighborhood exerting pressure on the middle-aged empty nesters who have accepted their offer. The ensuing conflict reveals deeply buried wounds, and with Bev and Russ refusing to cave in to pressure, the movement toward integration tentatively begins.

Act Two cuts to 2009, by which time Clybourne Park has become a predominantly Black community. Now an upscale young White couple has purchased and plans to renovate the former Younger homestead, turning it into an oversized mansion. The current association opposes such an overhaul, fearing the eventual gentrification of the neighborhood would render it unaffordable to the next generation of middle-class Black families.

Sparks fly, only this time with outrageous humor. Both White and Black prove to harbor latent racist feelings and beliefs, despite their attempts to be models of political correctness. An exchange of ethnic jokes designed to demonstrate mutual understanding degenerates into a battle of insults in which more and more extreme stereotypes reveal deeper and deeper ignorance.

While very different in tone, both "A Raisin in the Sun" and "Clybourne Park" masterfully deliver potent messages that are, unfortunately, still relevant today. Seeing them in tandem only strengthens the effect.

For information and tickets visit www.huntingtontheatre.org and www.speakeasystage.com.

PHOTOS: Kimberly Scott as Lena Younger and LeRoy McClain as Walter Lee Younger in "A Raisin in the Sun;" Philana Mia as Lindsey, Michael Kaye as Steve, Marvelyn McFarlane as Lena and DeLance Minefee as Kevin in "Clybourne Park"

To post a comment, you must register and login.