UTC Theatre Company explores racial issues in 'Clybourne Park'

photo Nick Sterling, Madeleine Young, Mason Degroot and Courtney Tucker, from left, are featured in the UTC Theatre Company production of "Clybourne Park."

UTC Theatre Company will present "Clybourne Park," a "bitingly funny and provocative drama" by Bruce Norris, as its first production of the 2014-15 academic year. Six performances are scheduled from Tuesday, Sept. 30, to Saturday, Oct. 4, in the UTC Fine Arts Center.

Winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 2012 Tony Award for Best Play, "Clybourne Park" explores the history of the house bought by the Younger family of the American classic "A Raisin in the Sun."

The play begins in 1959 when a black family has bought the house in the all-white neighborhood. Roles are reversed in the second act when a white family buys the same house in 2009 in what has become a predominantly black neighborhood. Race, real estate and the American dream are dissected in the play, and no topic is sacred.

"Audience members should come expecting to laugh and then wonder if it is OK to be laughing," says director Steve Ray. "It's smart and funny and a little unnerving at times."

The cast features Dalton Arbaugh, Calvin Forrest, Grace Holtz, Falcian Page, Nicholas Sterling, Courtney Tucker and Madeleine Young portraying different roles in both eras.

The director says he loves delving into difficult topics, and "Clybourne Park" delivers.

"This play is full of complex issues from racism in America to why humans get offended to what they find funny to the promise of the American dream," he says. "The stage is perfect for this. In the best theater, we explore, we don't preach."

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