Clybourne Park Teacher Information Packet

TEACHER INFORMATION PACKET

bruce norris

by

directed by

eric ting MAY 8 - JUNE 2

with support from bank of america

go r d o n e d e l s t e i n artistic director

H

J OSH U A BORENS T E I N managing director

PRE S ENT S

by br u ce no r r i s D ir ect e d b y er i c ti ng

may 8 - june 2, 2013 CLAIRE TOW STAGE IN THE C. NEWTON SCHENCK III THEATRE

T e a c h e r I n f o r m a ti o n P a c k e t Compiled and Written by a n nie d imarti no Director of Education m a l l o r y pel l eg rino Resident Teaching Artist Administrator AN THONY DE POT O Resident Teaching Artist kristian n a s mit h Resident Teaching Artist

Teacher Information Packet Layout by cla ire zoghb

long wharf theatre gratefully acknowledges t h e g e n e r o s it y o f o u r e d u c a ti o n s upp o r t e r s

Elizabeth Carse Foundation Frederick A. Deluca Foundation The George A. and Grace L. Long Foundation The Seedlings Foundation wells fargo foundation The Werth Family Foundation founding supporter of long wharf theatre ’ s video study guide and supporter of the educators ’ laboratory

by br u ce no r r i s D ir ect e d b y er i c ti ng

Set Design Costume Design

Frank Alberino° Linda Cho°

Lighting Design Sound Design

Tyler Micoleau° Elizabeth Rhodes°

Production Stage Manager ASSISTANT Stage Manager Casting Asl consultant

Charles M. Turner III* Amy PATRICIA Stern* James Calleri, CSA karen josephson

dialect coach stephen gabis fight consultant tim acito

with support from bank of america

* Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States ° Member of United Scenic Artists, USA-829 of the IATSE This Theatre operates under an agreement between the League Of Resident Theatres and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

contents ABO U T T HE P LAY Characters 8 Synopsis 10 About Bruce Norris 12 Many Different Genres 12 Connections to A RAISIN IN THE SUN Synopsis of A Raisin in the Sun 14 About Lorraine Hansberry 15 T HE W ORLD OF T HE P LAY Leaving Identity Issues to Other Folks 18 (from NPR: This I Believe) The Progression of Property 20 (from the Center Theatre Group) White Flight to the Suburbs and 24 Gentrification in the City Supp l e m e n t a l M a t e r i a l s Urban Apartheid (from New Haven Independent) 28 The “Missing” Scene: 30 Raisin in the Sun Act II, scene 3 Curriculum Connections 36 For the First-Time Theatregoer 37

Look for this symbol to find discussion and writing prompts, CMT/ CAPT-prep questions and classroom activities!

ABOUT THE PLAY

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C H A R A CTE R S i n clybourne park

RUSS / DAN

ACT I: Francine Black, in her thirties, married to Albert. Francine works as a maid for Bev and Russ. She is helping them pack their things, but she does not want to be friends. This is her job. She found Kenneth after he committed suicide.

FRANCINE / LENA ACT II: Lena Married to Kevin. Lena is a descendant of the Youngers’, for her great aunt lived in the house in Clybourne Park. She advocated for the house’s preservation; she has a personal attachment, remembering playing in the house and in the backyard as a child. She is a very strong woman who is not afraid to speak her mind when it comes down to it.

ACT I: Russ White, in his late forties, married to Bev. Russ appears to be a man selling his home and moving closer to work; however, he is also struggling with the pain of losing his son and blames the neighbors for how they treated Kenneth. He has become detached and moody,

which worries Bev. ACT II: Dan A friendly and talkative construction worker. He is digging in the backyard and comes in to interrupt or ask questions throughout the second act. Dan discovers Kenneth’s old trunk in the backyard and brings it back into the house.

BEV / KATHY

ACT I: Bev White, in her forties, married to Russ. Bev likes to have projects to work on, such as moving and her husband’s attitude. She is worried about Russ’s attitude since their son’s death. Bev is also incredibly naïve—about Kenneth’s war crimes and her relationship with Francine,

JIM / TOM / KENNETH

ACT I: Jim White, in his late twenties.

Jim is a young minister who stops by to talk to Russ about how he is dealing with his son’s death (at Bev’s request). He is mostly ineffectual in his advice as well as meditating the argument between Russ and Karl.

ACT II: Tom

Lena and Kevin’s lawyer.

ACT II: Kenneth Bev and Russ’s son who commits suicide in the house (prior to ACT I). He is accused of war crimes after fighting in the Korean War.

referring to her as a friend.

ACT II: Kathy Steve and Lindsey’s lawyer—and also, Betsy and Karl’s daughter (from ACT I).

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ACT II: Steve Married to Lindsey. Buying the home in Clybourne Park, he and Lindsey plan to tear it down and start from scratch, building a newer, bigger home in its place.

Steve is less concerned with being politically correct and more concerned with getting to the heart of the issue, for better or for worse. Because of this, he brings all the tension to the surface.

ACT I: Albert Black, in his thirties, married to Francine.

Albert comes by to pick up Francine and offers to help bring down an old trunk from upstairs, against Francine’s wishes.

He has good intentions, but his presence is mostly ALBERT / KEVIN unwelcome.

ACT II: Kevin Married to Lena. Kevin is a nice, laid-back guy, but he loses his temper after Steve insults Lena.

ACT I: Betsy White, in her later twenties, married to Karl. Betsy is completely deaf and eight months pregnant. Karl brings her along for his visit. She has trouble keeping up with conversation, especially as tensions escalate.

BETSY / LINDSEY ACT II: Lindsey Married to Steve and pregnant. The antithesis of Steve, she tries very hard to be politically correct and polite.

ACT I: Karl White, in his thirties.

Married to Betsy. Karl invites himself over to talk to Russ and Bev about selling their home and, more importantly to Karl, the family (the Youngers) they sold their home to.

KARL / STEVE

I n t h e Cla s s r o o m Double Casting As you may have noticed, the same seven actors play multiple characters.

In theatre, we call this double casting. Sometimes double casting can be a director’s choice, but in this case, Bruce Norris wrote the play to be double cast. What effect does the double casting have? Is there a relationship or connection between the different character a single actor plays (i.e. between Russ and Dan, Francine and Lena)?

In the Script/After the Show Did you notice any other through lines in the show? For example: repeated lines, actions, themes?

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S Y NO P SIS OF THE PLAY

T

integrated in one neighborhood. Karl fears that other homes property values will decline due to the presence of a black family in the neighborhood. While the arguing is progressing between those downstairs, the action is interrupted by Francine and Albert who drop the trunk down the stairs. Now that Francine and Albert are present, they are brought into the argument and questioned for their opinion of the current issue. Karl pleads with Russ to not sell the house to the Youngers but sell it to the Community Association instead. Russ declines the offer. Karl, being challenged, explains that he will inform the Youngers why the house is being sold so inexpensively: Russ and Bev’s son, Kenneth, killed himself in the house. At the mention of his son, Russ becomes angered and loses his temper. As Russ reads Kenneth’s suicide letter aloud, near hysteria breaks loose in the house: Jim gets knocked over the trunk, Karl yells, Albert tried to calm Russ down, but Russ throws everyone out of the house. Francine exits in a huff, leaving Albert behind to tell Bev that “it’s alright.

Nothing’s broken.” Bev tries to offer Albert money and an awkward interaction ensues. The act ends with Russ and Bev alone in their home with the trunk, which Russ intends to bury in the backyard.

he first act of the play takes place in 1959 in the home of Russ and Bev who live in a modest three-bedroom bungalow in Clybourne Park, a predominantly white neighborhood in Chicago. Bev and Russ are selling their home and preparing to move out of their house.

As the play open, the house is in disarray: there are cardboard boxes stacked in corners, some furniture has been removed and shelves emptied. Bev and Francine, the maid, are packing. Bev tries to offer Francine her chaffing dish, but Francine declines the offer. Russ is sitting alone reading a copy of National Geographic.

Bev enters while Russ is eating a tub of ice cream, and they discuss the names of various cities and the kind of people who live in them. Their discussion is interrupted by a phone call from Karl, a member of the Community Association, and then, Jim, the local minister, arrives at their front door. Jim’s presence may be a result of Bev’s concern about Russ’s late aggressive behavior. Jim attempts to speak with Russ about his son Kenneth who committed suicide in the house two and half years ago.

While Jim tries to comfort and reason with him, Russ continuously insults and becomes defensive towards Jim. Bev reenters the living room from the kitchen, where she was hiding under the guise of making ice tea, to find Russ belittling Jim. Bev becomes upset with Russ and claims he lacks “civility.” While the argument is going on, Albert enters the house to pick up his wife, Francine. Caught in an awkward situation, Bev mentions a trunk that is upstairs which needs to be brought downstairs. This is the first mention in the play about the trunk (which will be mentioned again in Act II).

Although Francine insists that they cannot stay to help today, Albert offers to move it.

Act II takes place in the same house, but it is now 2009 (50 years later). As the lights come up, there are two sets of couples seated in the living room along with their lawyers. Steve and Lindsey, who are white, and their lawyer Kathy sit on one end. Steve and Lindsey are buying the house and plan to level it and build a new and larger house on top of it. Lena and Kevin, who are black, are seating with them along with their lawyer Tom. As representatives of the neighborhood, Lena and Kevin are against Steve and Lindsey destroying the house. The discussion at hand is about the zoning of the house, how big the new house will be, and what Steve and Lindsey want this new house to look like. The conversations between the two parties are frivolous and unproductive. As one couples starts to state their concern, everyone is interrupted by someone’s cell phone or the noise Dan, the construction worker, is

Karl arrives at the house along with his wife, Betsy.

Betsy is deaf and about eight months pregnant. Karl and Betsy have returned from Hamilton Park where Karl has met and talked with the Youngers, who have purchased Russ and Bev’s home. Karl informs everyone that the Youngers are a black family. An argument emerges about the issues of black and white neighbors

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same trunk from Act I. Dan mentions that he found the trunk buried in the backyard and is not sure whose it was. After this, both couples and sets of lawyers have a disturbing, offensive and uncomfortable discussion about race and ethnicities including offensive jokes and insults with a heap of resentment on top. The play ends with a flashback between Kenneth and Bev, while Dan reads Kenneth’s letter aloud.

making outside. The only conversation that seems progressive is when family vacations are brought up.

After hearing all of this, Lena finally breaks the tension and explains how much the neighborhood means to her and that this particular house once belonged to her aunt. She recalls it from her childhood, playing in the house and the tree in the backyard. Lena also mentions that a suicide was committed in the house, which makes Lindsey very upset. Dan enters the house carrying the

I n t h e Cla s s r o o m Clybourne Park takes place in one house at two different times. Ask the students to think about a house or apartment that they have been in as a child and recently (it can be their own home or the home of a relative or friend). Fold a piece of paper in half. Have students write “THEN” on top of one half and “NOW” at the top of the other half. Then, ask students to close their eyes and remember: • 3 things they saw in the home • 3 things they heard in the home • 3 things they smelt in the home • 3 things they tasted in the home • 3 things they “felt” in the home (This can either be things they can feel physically or emotionally).

The memories will be the THEN section. Have the students repeat the activity for NOW. Then, ask students to compare. What has changed? What has stayed the same?

The play asks the question: what has changed in 50 years in the house and neighborhood of Clybourne Park? Discuss in your class. After seeing the show, what are some images that jump out at you?

Playwright Bruce Norris was interested in this idea of change throughout time, but he claims that he doesn’t think “human nature” has changed “in fifty or two thousand or ten thousand years.” Do you agree or disagree? Defend your answer.

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ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHT: B R U CE NO R R IS “There’s nothing better than the feeling of coming into the room and feeling that something dangerous is happening.” – Bruce Norris

A

Clybourne Park tells the story of the house in Clybourne Park before and after the Younger family, focusing in on our past and present consciousness of race relations and showing us just how much things have changed and how much they haven’t.

contemporary American playwright, Bruce Norris is known for his provocative nature, controversial quotations, and “ability to make his audiences simultaneously laugh and squirm.” Norris often targets “uncomfortable truths” of American middle class society in his work: “People who buy subscriptions…are usually wealthy people.

They are almost always wealthy, liberal people. So why not write plays that are about those people, since those are the people who are in the audience? If you actually want to have a conversation with that audience, then you should address them directly.” From “The Freedom to Provoke”

“Steve and Lindsey [the white couple in Act II of Clybourne Park who are about to purchase and renovate a home in a gentrifying neighborhood] imagine that they’re very close to Kevin and Lena [the black couple who are fighting to preserve the neighborhood’s history]. They think, “We’re just the same: they are in our same age group, same professional level, they seem politically like-minded.” They make all these assumptions, and yet, from Kevin and Lena’s point of view, there is no illusion that they are the same. The one person in the second act whom everyone agrees is not the same is Dan. The guy digs ditches for a living, so no one pays attention to him.” From “The Freedom to Provoke”

Inspired by Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, Norris wrote Clybourne Park in 2009. On the first day of rehearsals for Clybourne Park at American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T), Norris remarked that A Raisin in the Sun was one of the first plays that he became aware of as a younger person.

“That play has resonated all through my life because I realized that the only character I could identify with was Karl—I was whitey in an all-white neighborhood in Houston, Texas.” From “The Freedom to Provoke”

G EN R ES :

In the Cla s s r o o m

Riff: “A distinct variation” --or a new take on something old

• C hoose one of the above genres and outline

Prequel: “A story containing events that precede those of an existing work” --what happened before

how Clybourne Park fits into that genre. Provide examples from the script or play if you are able.

• T hinking Further: What genres may Clybourne Park belong to other than the three listed?

Sequel: “Something that follows; a continuation” --what happens after

SOURCE: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/

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I n t h e Cla s s r o o m • What makes groups of people the same? What makes groups of people think they are the same? What makes groups of people different? What makes groups of people think they are different?

Examples: race, religion, age, socio-economic status, jobs/vocation, political ideals, gender, country of origin, hometown, language.

• Do you think people from different races, ethnicities, and religions can ever find common ground? How? Where? Is it the divider that we make it out to be?

• In the article, Norris says that he identifies with Karl in A Raisin in the Sun. Who do your students identify with in Clybourne Park? Why? • In many of his interviews, Norris questions why Americans don’t voluntarily integrate.

In “The Freedom to Provoke”, Norris answers: “I think it has to do with discomfort—with feeling like you’re the minority. It’s uncomfortable to live in an area where you are that minority, no matter which way it works.” Discuss student responses. Do they agree or disagree?

• In “A Conversation with Bruce Norris,” Norris tells Trinity Rep’s Curt Columbus: “If you left Clybourne Park and found it harder to talk about your attitudes on race, that would be a good thing.” Did your students have this response?

• Have your students respond to Bruce Norris’ revelation in “The Freedom to Provoke”: “When I was in my 20s, the thing I mostly wanted to be was an actor, but then I didn’t really understand that the structure of theater was such that an actor has virtually no power. I’m not saying that’s bad, but it’s like being a violinist in an orchestra—you don’t have as much power as a conductor. That’s how it should be, but I wanted to have more power because I was power hungry, I think. And I wanted to be able to express what I thought, rather than be a vehicle for the expression of someone else’s thoughts. I think that’s why I wanted to be a writer instead of an actor.” Where do you have power? Where do you have less power? Why do we want more power?

SOURCES: “The Freedom to Provoke: An Interview with Playwright Bruce Norris” By: Beatrice Basso (with an introduction by Dan Rubin)

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conne ct i o ns t o a raisin i n t h e su n Synopsis of

A Raisin in the Sun

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he play takes place post World War II in the house of the Younger family. The Younger’s are a poor black family that lives in the South side of Chicago that could be considered the “slums.” One day, Lena Younger—also known as Mama—receives a check from her late husband’s life insurance. The check is valued at $10,000, and Lena sees this as an opportunity for the family to escape the poverty they are living in. Once they hear about the check, Lena’s children come up with their own ideas of what to do with the money. Walter, who is 35 years old and has a wife and son, comes up with the plan to invest the money into a liquor store in a get rich quick scheme, while Beneatha, his sister, wants to further her education and plans to use the money for medical school. Ruth, Walter’s wife, informs him that she is pregnant with their second child, an unplanned surprise.

Fearing that it will be impossible to afford another child, she contemplates having an abortion.

back to Nigeria with him so she can study medicine there.

After making the down payment on the house in Clybourne Park, Lena puts Walter in charge of holding the rest of the money. Lena wants Walter to store it away for Beneatha’s medical school expenses instead of spending it; however, Walter resents his mother’s desires to invest in his sister but not him. So, he plans to use the money to invest in his liquor store idea, thinking that liquor store will make enough revenue to take care of Beneatha’s medical school expenses.

Walter decides to go in on the liquor store with two other men, and although the business men seem shady (to the audience), Walter trusts them. Willy, one of the businessmen, ends up running away with all of Walter’s money.

Mr. Karl Lindner, a representative from the Clybourne Park Improvement Association has visited Walter and the family earlier, offering them a large sum of money not to move to the white neighborhood. Initially, the family rejects Lindner’s offer. Now that Walter has lost all of the family’s money, he begins to consider it.

Walter knows that accepting Karl’s offer is degrading, but he wants his family to have a future and a better life.

Karl meets with Walter to finalize a deal, but, at the last moment, Walter refuses. Walter does not want the family to be intimidated, walked over, and bought off. Walter argues with Karl and speaks his mind, while Lena, Beneatha, Ruth, and Travis (Walter and Ruth’s son) listen, regaining hope and determination. The play concludes with the family deciding to leave for their new home in Clybourne Park.

After hearing about her children’s plans and Ruth’s news, Lena decides to invest the money in a down payment for a house in the white neighborhood of Clybourne Park, as well as pay for some of Beneatha’s medical school. Lena is eager to leave the small one bedroom apartment everyone lives in; the building is nearly dilapidated and almost considered condemned.

While in college, Beneatha dates two men at once. The first man is George, a black classmate of hers. George comes from a wealthy background and is depicted as the opposite of Beneatha’s family. The second man is a college student from Nigeria named Asagai. Towards the end of the play, Asagai pleas with Beneatha to go

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ABOUT LORRAINE HANSBERRY A Raisin in the Sun premiered on Broadway in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre on March 11, 1959. Although many white producers had doubts about the show, thinking white audiences wouldn’t pay to see a play about a black family, A Raisin in the Sun was met with huge commercial and critical success. At the age of 25, Hansberry won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award. She was the youngest person, the first AfricanAmerican playwright, and only the fifth woman to achieve this honor; Lorraine Hansberry was also the first African-American woman to have a production on Broadway. In 1963, Hansberry became very active in the Civil Rights movement, but she died from pancreatic cancer at the age of 34 on January 12, 1965.

When Lorraine Hansberry, the granddaughter of a slave and the youngest of four children, was eight years old, she and her family moved to a predominately white neighborhood in Chicago. Although her family was affluent, intellectual and active in support of civil rights, they experienced bigotry, discrimination and violence in their new neighborhood. Refusing to move until a court ordered them to do so, the family took the case all the way to the Supreme Court. This landmark case would be known as Hansberry v. Lee, ruling restrictive covenants illegal. These childhood experiences laid the foundation for some of the themes in A Raisin in the Sun. After two years at the University of Wisconsin as an art major, Lorraine realized that she wanted to be a writer and moved to New York. Once in New York, Hansberry began taking classes and writing for the prominent African-American newspaper, Freedom. By 1956, Lorraine quit her job to focus on writing full time.

She took the title for her play, A Raisin in the Sun, from Langston Hughes’ poem: A Dream Deferred.

In the Cla s s r o o m

A Dream Deferred

• W hat do you think the dream deferred is? Are their multiple possibilities? Make a list.

• Do you think the poem A Dream Deferred also connects to Clybourne Park? How? • Activate the poem by having students read the poem aloud, physicalizing the different things that happen to a dream deferred: drying up, festering, stinking, crusting and sugaring over, sagging, and exploding.

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.

Sources: http://www.biography.com/people/lorrainehansberry-9327823

Or does it explode?

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WORLD OF THE PLAY

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L E A V IN G I D ENTIT Y ISS U ES TO OT H E R F O L K S

By Phyllis Allen July 11, 2005

Phyllis Allen has sold Yellow Pages advertising for 15 years.

She spends about half her working hours in her car covering her territory around Dallas and Fort Worth,Texas.

When she retires, she hopes to pursue her first passion, writing.

Standing in the rain waiting to go up the steps to the balcony of the Grand Theater I gripped Mama’s hand and watched the little blonde kids enter the lobby downstairs. It was the ‘50s, I was “colored” and this is what I believed: My place was in the balcony of the downtown theater, the back of the bus and the back steps of the White Dove Barbecue Emporium. When I asked Mama why this was so, she smiled and said, “Baby, people do what they do. What you got to do is be the best that you can be.”

who’d never been closer to Africa than a Tarzan movie were speaking broken Swahili. The ‘80s made us hyphenated: African-American. Swaddled in elaborately woven costumes of flowing design, bright colors and rich gold I was a pseudo-African, who’d never seen Africa. “It’s your heritage,” is what everybody said. Now, I believed in the elusive promise of the Motherland.

We got our first television in the ‘60s and it brought into my living room the German shepherds, snapping at a young girl’s heels. It showed children just like me going to school passing through throngs of screaming, angry folks, chanting words I wasn’t allowed to say. I could no longer be “colored.” We were Negroes now, marching in the streets for our freedom — at least, that’s what the preacher said. I believed that, even though I was scared, I had to be brave and stand up for my rights.

In the ‘90s, I was a woman whose skin happened to be brown, chasing the American dream. Everybody said that the dream culminated in stuff. I believed in spending days shopping. Debt? I didn’t care about no stinkin’ debt. It was the ‘90s. My 401(k) was in the midsix figures and I believed in American Express. Then came the crash, and American Express didn’t believe in me nearly as much as I believed in it.

In the ‘70s: beat-up jeans, hair like a nappy halo and my clenched fist raised, I stood on the downtown street shouting. Angry young black men in sleek black leather jackets and berets had sent out a call from the distant shores of Oakland, Calif. No more non-violence or standing on the front lines quietly while we were being beaten. Simple courtesies like “please” and “thank you” were over. It was official: Huey, H. Rap, and Eldridge said so. I believed in being black and angry.

Now, it’s a brand new millennium and the bling-bling, video generation ain’t about me. Everything changed when I turned 50. Along with the wrinkles, softened muscles and weak eyesight came the confidence that allows me to stick to a very small list of beliefs. I’ll leave those identity issues to other folks. I believe that I’m free to be whoever I choose to be. I believe in being a good friend, lover and parent so that I can have good friends, lovers and children. I believe in being a woman — the best that I can be, like my Mama said.

By the ‘80s, fertility gods lined the walls and crammed the display cases of all my friends’ houses. People

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I n t h e Cla s s r o o m Words have power. The specific word that Phyllis chose (or society chose for her) to identify with has changed throughout the course of her life. Fill in the blanks using the article to identify what you know of history. Is there a term for each blank?

1950s:

POLITE ACCEPTABLE/COMMON OFFENSIVE

______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________

1960s:

POLITE ACCEPTABLE/COMMON OFFENSIVE

______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________

1970s:

POLITE ACCEPTABLE/COMMON OFFENSIVE

______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________

1980s:

POLITE ACCEPTABLE/COMMON OFFENSIVE

______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________

1990s:

POLITE ACCEPTABLE/COMMON OFFENSIVE

______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________

2000s/present: POLITE

ACCEPTABLE/COMMON

OFFENSIVE

______________________________ ______________________________ ______________________________

Now that you have completed Phyllis’s personal timeline, create one for yourself. Choose at least five words that have defined you within your lifetime (you may choose more, but no more than 10). Be sure to include both positive and negative. Then, place them in the order you identified with them. How have you grown or changed?

On a piece of paper, have students write down their gender, their race, and their age (no names!). Then, have the students list 5 privileges that they have because of one of these (gender, race, age). Next, have students write down 5 disadvantages or limitations that they have or are met with because of their gender, race or age.

Compare answers with the class.

By using no names, you can collect the papers and then pass them out to different students to read aloud. Have a classroom discussion.

Source: NPR, Special Series “This I Believe” http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4738649

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T H E P R O G R ESSION O F PROPERTY “The history of America is the history of Private Property.”

— Clybourne Park Property: that which a person owns; the possession or possessions of a particular owner.

The United States has very specific, legal definitions for various types of property. These include: •

Public Property: property owned by a government; it commonly refers to parks, playgrounds, streets, sidewalks, schools, libraries and other properties regularly used by the general public.

• I ntellectual Property: property that results from original creative thought, as patents, copyright material, and trademarks; it can describe a wide variety of property created by musicians, authors, artists, and inventors.

The conflicts that arise in Clybourne Park start with a dispute involving private property, namely real property, also known as “real estate.”

•

Private Property: land or belongings owned by a person or group and kept for their exclusive use; land not owned by the government. Different types of private property include: eal Property: land and the

• R improvements to it made by human effort (also known as “immovable property”).

• Personal Property: everything that is the subject of ownership that does not come under the definition of real property (roughly speaking, it is private property that is moveable). It is divided into two major categories

1. Tangible Personal Property: refers to any type of property that can generally be moved, touched or felt; includes such items as furniture, clothing, jewelry, art, writing, or household goods.

2. Intangible Personal Property: this refers to personal property that cannot actually be moved, touched or felt, but instead represents something of value such as stocks, bonds, patents, and copyrights

In the United States, when a person owns a piece of property, he/she holds a set of rights that enable him/her to utilize this land in ways that they see fit; however, these rights are not absolute. Our government also reserves certain rights associated with these lands because it has agreed to protect the property for the owner. Among the government’s rights is the right to control the use of private property to ensure the protection of the public’s interest.

In the Cla s s r o o m • W hat is the central debate involving property in Clybourne Park?

— In Act I

— In Act II • E xplain the debate and include where characters fall in the debate. * W hat kind(s) of property are being discussed in the play?

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The following timeline reveals the connection of property ownership to aspects of U.S. history such as the concentration of power, slavery, and women’s suffrage:

the nation into a battle for freedom.

1865: 40 Acres and a Mule: Three months prior to the end of the Civil War, General William T. Sherman issued Special Field Order Number 15, a temporary plan granting each freed slave family 40 acres of land on the islands and coastal region of Georgia. The union Army also donated some of its mules, unneeded for battle purposes, to the former slaves.

1619: First African slaves were brought to North American colony of Jamestown, Virginia to aid in the production of lucrative crops such as tobacco. Not only did these slaves help to increase the value of their owner’s property, they were viewed as private property themselves.

1760: Only white, male property owners have the right to vote. (They constitute about 10 to 16% of the total population.)

1865: In the summer of 1865, President Andrew Johnson ordered all land under federal control to be returned to its previous owners. The Freedman’s Bureau, created to aid millions of former slaves in the postwar era, had to inform the freed men and women that they could either sign labor contract with planters or be evicted from the land they occupied.

1771 (New York): Act to Confirm Certain Conveyances and Directing the Manner of Proving Deeds to Be Recorded: required a married man to have his wife’s signature on any deed to her property before he sold or transferred it, and required that a judge meet privately with the wife to confirm.

December 18, 1865: The Ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment legally abolishes slavery in the U.S. (thereby making it possible for freed men to own property).

1787 (Massachusetts): A law was passed which allowed married women in limited circumstances to act as femme sole traders.

1850: Property ownership requirements for the right to vote are eliminated. Almost all adult white males could vote, regardless of property ownership.

1865-1877: During the Reconstruction Era, after the Civil War, many southern states passed laws known as the Black Codes. Even though some of these laws allowed black citizens to own property, they were extremely restrictive and prevented blacks from improving upon their economic and social status. These remained firmly in place for almost a century, but were finally abolished with the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

1863: President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, declaring that all slaves in the rebellious states “shall be then, thenceforward, and forever free.” While the Emancipation Proclamation did not free a single slave, it was an important turning point in the Civil War, transforming the fight to preserve

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T H E P R O G R ESSION O F P R O P E R T Y

continued

civil strife ended, they came back home to reclaim their homes, but had much difficulty in obtaining it because their ownership of the land was not legally documented.

1870: Only around 30,000 African-Americans in the South owned land (usually small plots) compared with 4 million others who did not.

1900: Most states give women substantial control over their property.

– In China, there is no such thing as private property.

– E nglish common law greatly influenced the formation of private property rights in the United States, with one essential difference. Two hundred years ago, American colonists were not bound by “primogeniture.”

• Under primogeniture, land passes only to one heir. In England, this heir was the firstborn son of the landowner. If he had no son, the property would go to the closest male relative (father, brother, uncle, cousin, etc.).

Often, an eldest daughter would see her father’s property inherited by a much younger male sibling. If the owner had no sons, the land might end up in the hands of her uncle or cousin.

• Many of the American colonists in the New World left their European homelands because they were not heirs to their families’ fortunes.

These colonists embraced the right to transfer ownership of property to whomever the current owner wished.

1940: Hansberry v. Lee, a famous discrimination lawsuit won by the family of playwright, Lorraine Hansberry, author of A Raisin in the Sun. Her family fought against a covenant that tried to keep African-American families from buying houses.

Currently, any citizen in the U.S. has the right to own private property, regardless of race, religion, gender or sexual orientation. Property may be sold or bequeathed to whomever the owner desires.

Other countries and cultures, past and present, have had different perspectives and approaches to property: – Emperors of the Incan empire were seen as gods. When they died, it was believed that they still maintained control of their property.

– In Africa, certain indigenous groups were driven off of their homelands during times of war. When

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I n t h e Cla s s r o o m Your Property Listed 1. Have each student in two minutes write down everything that they personally own. Share.

2. Have each student in two minutes write down everything that their family owns. Share.

3. Have each student in two minutes write down everything that they wished they owned.

Share.

4. Have each student in two minutes write down everything that their family wished they owned. Share.

Reflect 1. What do you find the same from this list? What do you find different?

2. Go back to each list and locate two things that are the most expensive things on your list.

Share.

3. Go back to each list and decide on two things that you cannot live without and identify them.

Share.

4. Are the two things you cannot live without similar to what is most expensive? Discuss.

Sources: This article is included in our Teacher Information Packet, with permission, from The Center Theatre Group.

For access to their Educator Information on Clybourne Park, please visit: http://www.centertheatregroup.org/uploadedFiles/ Plays_and_Tickets/Productions/2012/Clybourne_Park/files/clybourne_educator.pdf

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wh i t e fl i gh t t o t h e s uburb s and gentrification in the city Suburbs. White Flight. Inner City. Gentrification.

What do all these words and concepts have to do with one another?

They are all connected by race relations.

W

ith the growth of the automobile industry and the birth of American highways, people with money and means were able to move out of the crowded cities and into the suburbs. These people were predominately white, and thus, when referring to the mass exodus of predominately white Americans from the crowded cities, we use the term “white flight.�

White flight has a devastating effect on the people that were left behind, predominately African-Americans. As more African-Americans were moving North, creating a demand for housing, landlords could charge inflated rents for subpar living conditions. Those people still in the city lacked the political influence or wealth to improve their living conditions.

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neighborhood, particularly of housing stock; and change in neighborhood character.

Then, came the flip side of the coin: gentrification.

The word comes with more than just its definition: Gentrification (n.): the process of renewal and rebuilding accompanying the influx of middle-class or affluent people into deteriorating areas that often displaces poorer residents

Thus, gentrification does not automatically occur when higher income residents move into a lower income neighborhood, for example, at a scale too small to displace existing residents, or in the context of vacant land or buildings. Nor does economic development activity – revitalization – necessarily imply gentrification. Tenants can leave their units for a range of reasons, so departures in a revitalizing neighborhood do not necessarily mean gentrification is occurring.”

In its verb form “to gentrify” means to make gentry out of or: Gentrify (v.): “renovate inner-city housing to middle-class standards,” by 1972, from gentry + -fy.

So, who is gentry?

What happens in the process of gentrification?

Well, it begins when a couple of “risk-oblivious pioneers”—such as artists, students, or political radicals—move into a low-income neighborhood (in the city). While they may be able to afford to live in a higher-income neighborhood, they choose not to (for varying reasons). As these new residents settle in and begin to influence their surroundings, the neighborhood becomes more hip, and young professionals begin to look at it as a desirable place to live. Referred to as “risk-aware,” these young professionals are those that will “fix up” the neighborhood by putting time and money (sometimes called sweat equity) into their homes. These “fixer-uppers” use their political, social, and economic connections to make their neighborhood safer and even more enticing.

Once the “neighborhood transformation” is in full swing, and businesses begin to move back into the neighborhood, the final group—“riskaverse”—moves back in the neighborhood.

Gentry (n.): “nobility of rank or birth,” “noble persons.”

The base or root of the word holds a political charge, and it comes with all sorts of connotations, “conjur[ing] up images of yuppies stealing urban housing from rightful inhabitants,” along with the economic, social, and political changes that accompany reinvestment in low-income, urban communities.

In 2001, Maureen Kennedy and Paul Leonard set out to create not only a definition for gentrification, but to describe the effects that come with gentrification versus a renovation. The following is a complex definition according to Maureen Kennedy and Paul Leonard in their paper Dealing with Neighborhood Change: A Primer on Gentrification and Policy Choices:

“Under our definition, gentrification has three specific conditions which all must be met: displacement of original residents, physical upgrading of the

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continued

I n t h e Cla s s r o o m Gentrification has critics and advocates. What do you think?

What are the possible benefits of gentrification? What are the adverse effects? Do you think that a neighborhood can be gentrified without displacing anyone? How? Look at your own community—New Haven. Where have you seen the process of white flight and gentrification take place? How has it helped or harm the area?

In the play, Lindsey and Steve are buying the house in Clybourne Park. Which category do you think they fall into: “Risk-oblivious,” “risk-aware,” or “risk-averse”?

SOURCES: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/reports/2001/4/metropolitanpolicy/gentrification http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ http://www.etymonline.com/ Matthew Jerzyk’s “Gentrification’s Third Way: An Analysis of Housing Policy & Gentrification in Providence”

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S U P P L EMENT A L M A TE R I A L S

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N A A C P D EC R IES “ U R B A N A P A R T H EI D ” metropolitan area.

- Median income for black families in New Haven County has dropped $9,000 since 2008, compared to a drop of less than $3,000 for white families, who have an average income that’s nearly twice as high as black families.

- Black people have less access to transportation, and thus have less access to jobs and longer commutes when they do have jobs.

BY Thomas MacMillan | MAR 28, 2013

B

lack New Haveners lag 40 points behind white peers on reading tests, have half the average income of white families, and are concentrated together in struggling neighborhoods. There’s a name for that situation, according to the NAACP: “Urban Apartheid.”

That’s the title of a new report released Thursday by the Greater New Haven branch of the NAACP.

“These are systematic issues we need to deal with,” Rawlings said.

A year in the making, the report details many challenges minorities face in and around New Haven, and lays out some suggested solutions, including calling on the suburbs for help.

Rawlings was joined at the press conference by noted child psychiatrist Dr. James Comer, who emphasized the importance of equal access to a good education.

The mayors of New Haven and Hamden and the head of the United Way all spoke of the importance of regional cooperation to deal with the problems presented in the report.

“We are almost at the point of having a permanent underclass,” branch President James Rawlings said at a press conference at NAACP headquarters on Whalley Avenue. That underclass is mostly non-white and concentrated in poor urban neighborhoods, he said. For children growing up in such situations, “knowing where they’re born, we know they have no future,” Rawlings said.

“We can’t have one town bearing the burden,” Rawlings said. He said the people who “fall out” in the suburbs end up on the New Haven Green.

Among the efforts towards regional cooperation, he said the NAACP will be asking the federal Housing and Urban Development agency (HUD) to locate public housing in “healthy communities” in the suburbs, instead of concentrating them in the city.

He called out a few key statistics from the 25-page “Urban Apartheid” report, which focuses on challenges in education, economic equity, healthy neighborhoods, and civic engagement.

Rawlings said the NAACP will be taking the report on a “road show” through 12 nearby towns, and the group will be meeting with the South Central Regional Council of Governments and the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce.

Among the stats he mentioned: - In New Haven, 66 percent of white students are reading at goal level by third grade, versus 26 percent of black students.

- Ninety-eight percent of families with incomes of over $50,000 have access to the internet, versus 78 percent of families below that income level, in greater New Haven.

- Twelve percent of minorities say they have trouble paying their rent or mortgage, versus just 4 percent of non-minorities in the greater New Haven

Rawlings said he anticipates facing “a lot of NIMBY [Not In My BackYard] as we go forward.”

But that’s nothing new, he said. “These are the same issues we’ve been going through for the last 200 years.”

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I n t h e Cla s s r o o m According to this article, what is the thesis of the NAACP’s new report?

The following is the introduction of the NAACP’s report: “Apartheid is any policy or practice of separating or segregating groups. It was an official policy formerly practiced in South Africa against non-whites. Nelson Mandela led a broad-based effort to eventually end the practice of apartheid in 1990s. We chose the term “Urban Apartheid” as the title of this report because low-income people of color in America’s urban areas, including the Greater New Haven metropolitan area, continue to be separated from the country’s social and economic mainstream in part as a direct result of current local, regional, state, and national policies.”

Look at the underlined portion of the statement above. Do you believe this to be true? Why or why not?

In the New Haven Independent’s article, what are three effects of Urban Apartheid? What is the NAACP’s solution?

Based on what you understand of the city of New Haven and its surrounding areas, how do you think this article relates to the concept of gentrification?

Source: New Haven Independent Online http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/naacp_report/

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the missing scene: A RAISIN IN THE SUN : ACT II , SCENE 3 A Raisin in the Sun: Act II, Scene 3 In Act I of Clybourne Park, when Karl Lindner and his wife Betsy arrive at Russ and Bev’s home, they have just come from visiting the Youngers in Hamilton Park. This can be thought of as “the missing scene” from the play; however, Karl Lindner’s appearance in the Younger household appears in A Raisin in the Sun, below: MAN. Uh- How do you do, Miss? I am looking for a Mrs.- (He looks at the slip of paper.) Mrs. Lena Younger-? (He stops short, struck dumb, as RUTH giggles wildly in WALTERS arms.)

BENEATHA. (smoothing her hair with slight embarrassment) Oh- yes, that’s my mother. Excuse me. (she shuts door.) Ruth! Brother! (Enunciating precisely but soundlessly so we can read her lips: “There’s a WHITE MAN at the door!” They stop dancing, RUTH cuts off record, WALTER pinches her butt and she swats at him, laughing. He straightens clothes, BENEATHA opens door.) Uh- come in please.

MAN. (the look still on his face; recovering) Thank you.

BENEATHA. My mother isn’t here just now. Is it business?

MAN. Yes- well, of a sort.

WALTER. (freely, the Man of the House; crosses L. above sofa to L.C.) Have a seat.

(BENEATHA crosses D.L. to front of table.)

MAN. Thank you.

WALTER. I’m Mrs. Younger’s son. I look after most of her business matters.

(RUTH and BENEATHA exchange glances.)

MAN. (sits on broken spring of sofa, shifts uncomfortably) Well- My name is Karl Lindner WALTER (stretching out his hand) Walter Younger. (LINDNER rises to shake, sits.) This is my wife(LINDNER rises politely; RUTH nods, he sits.) And my sister.

LINDNER. (rises) How do you do? (starts to sit but stops mid-motion, looks behind him to make sure there is no on else to greet, and sits) WALTER. (draws armchair closer, sits with RUTH on the arm beside him, arm about her. Amiably, leaning forward expectantly into the newcomer’s face) What can we do for you, Mr.Lindner!

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LINDNER. (some minor shuffling of the hat and briefcase on his knees) Well- I am a representative of the Clybourne Park Improvement Association WALTER. (indicating with remark) Why don’t you sit your things on the couch?

LINDNER. Oh- yes. Thank you. (He slides brief case and hat onto the couch.) And as I was saying- I am from the Clybourne Park Improvement Association and we have had it brought to our attention that you people- or at least your mother- has bought a piece of residential property at- (He digs for the little slip of paper.) 406 Clybourne Street- (BENEATHA, eyeing it, drifts behind him.)

WALTER. That’s right. Care for something to drink? Ruth, get Mr. Lindner a beer. (She rises.)

LINDNER. (upset for some reason) Oh- no, really. I mean thank you very much, but no, thank you.

RUTH. (innocently) Some coffee?

LINDNER. Thank you, nothing at all. (She sits.) Well, I don’t know how much you folks know about our organization. (He is a gentle man; thoughtful and somewhat labored in his manner.) It is one of these community organizations set up to look after- oh, you know things like block upkeep and special projects and we also have what we call our New Neighbors Orientation Committee BENEATHA. (skeptically) Yes- and what do they do?

LINDNER. (turning a little to her and then returning the main force to WALTER) Well- it’s what you might call a sort of Welcoming Committee I guess. I mean they, we, I’m the chairman go around and see the new people who move into the neighborhood and sort of give ‘em the lowdown on the way we do things out in Clybourne Park.

BENEATHA. (with false appreciation) Uh-huh.

LINDNER. And we also have the category of what the Association calls uh- special community problems BENEATHA. (caustically) Yes- and what are some of those?

WALTER. Girl, let the man talk.

(BENEATHA exhales heavily, crosses L. and above table, picks up an orange from table.)

LINDNER. (with understated relief) Thank you. I would sort of like to explain this thing in my own way. I mean I want to explain in a certain way.

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the missing scene

continued

(BENEATHA begins tossing the orange up and down) WALTER. Go ahead.

LINDNER. Yes. Well. I’m going to try to get right to the point. I’m sure we’ll all appreciate that in the long run.

BENEATHA. Yes. WALTER. Be still now!

(BENEATHA crosses R. above sofa, tossing the orange in the air.)

LINDNER. Well RUTH. (innocently still) Would you like another chair- you don’t look comfortable.

LINDNER. (more frustrated than annoyed) No, thank you very much. Please. Well- to get right to the point I- (A great breath and he is off at last.) I am sure you people must be aware of some of the incidents that have happened when colored people move into certain areas- Well- because we have what I think is going to be a unique type of organization in American community life not only do we deplore that kind of thing- but we are trying to do something about it. (WALTER gestures approvingly and BENEATHA halts with the tossing and turns with a new and quizzical interest to LINDNER. She crosses D.R. of sofa to U.L. of WALTER’s chair.) We feel- (gaining confidence in his mission due to the interest in the faces of the people he is talking to) We feel that most of the trouble in this world, when you come right down to it- (He pounds his fist just a little for emphasis on his knee.) Most of the trouble exists because people just don’t sit down and talk to each other.

RUTH. (nodding as she might in church, pleased with the remark) You can say that again, Mister.

LINDNER. (also more encouraged by such affirmation) That we don’t try hard enough to understand the other fellow’s problem. The other guy’s point of view.

RUTH. Now that’s right. (WALTER gestures that LINDNER is right on target.)

LINDNER. Yes- and that’s why I was elected to come here this afternoon and talk to you people and see if we couldn’t find some way to work this thing out. Anybody can see that you are a nice family of folks, hard working and honest, I’m sure. Today everybody knows what it means to be an outsider. And of course there is always somebody who is out to take advantage of people who don’t understand.

WALTER. What do you mean?

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LINDNER. Well- you see our community is made up of people who’ve worked hard as the dickens for years to build up that little community. We’re not rich and fancy people; just hardworking honest people who don’t really have much but those little homes and a dream of the kind of community we want to raise our children in. Now I don’t say we are perfect and there is a lot wrong in some of the things we want. But you’ve got to admit that a man, right or wrong, has the right to want to have the neighborhood he lives in a certain kind of way. And at the moment the overwhelming majority of our people out there feel that people get along better; take more of a common interest in the life of the community when they share a common background.

(As they react, he rushes to reassure them.) Now I want you to believe me when I tell you that race prejudice simply doesn’t enter into it. It is a matter of the people of Clybourne Park believing, rightly or wrongly, as I say, that for the happiness of all concerned that our Negro families are happier when they live in their own communities.

BENEATHA. (with a grand and bitter gesture) This, friends, is the Welcoming Committee!

WALTER. (dumbfounded) Is this what you came marching all the way over here to tell us?

LINDNER. Well now we’ve been having a fine conversation I hope you’ll hear me all the way through.

WALTER. (tightly) Go ahead, man.

LINDNER. You see- in the face of all the things I have said, we are prepared to make your family a very generous offer BENEATHA. Thirty pieces and not a coin less!

WALTER. Yeah-?

LINDNER. (putting on his glasses and drawing out a form from the brief case) Our association is prepared through the collective effort of our people to buy the house from you at a financial gain to your family.

RUTH. (rises, crosses L. front of table) Lord have mercy, ain’t this the living gall!

WALTER. All right, you through? (Rises.)

LINDNER. Well, I want to give you the exact terms of the arrangement WALTER. We don’t want to hear no exact terms of no arrangements. I want to know if you got any more to tell ‘bout getting together.

LINDNER. (taking off his glasses) Well- I don’t suppose that you feel

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the missing scene

continued

WALTER. Never mind how I feel- you got any more to say ‘bout how people ought to sit down and talk to each other? (He strides to the door and opens if wide.) Get out of my house, man.

LINDNER. (looking around at the hostile faces and reaching and assembling his hat and brief case; crosses L. to U.C.) I don’t understand why you people are reacting this way. What do you think you are going to gain by moving where you- aren’t wanted and where some elements well- people can get awful worked up when they feel that their whole way of life and everything they’ve ever worked for is threatened.

WALTER. (Restraining himself: quietly, unable even to look at the man) Get out.

LINDNER. (at the door, holding a small card) Well, I’m sorry it went like this.

WALTER. (Facing him) Get out!

LINDNER. (from the door with deep passion:) You just can’t force people to change their hearts, son.

(He turns and puts his card on the buffet and exits.)

(WALTER pushes the door to with stinging hatred, he picks up and looks at the card, puts it down.

RUTH sits grimly L. of kitchen table, BENEATHA on arm of chair D.R. They say nothing for several seconds.)

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I n t h e Cla s s r o o m The abbreviations L, DR, UC, UL, and R are stage directions.

A stage is divided into sections as seen below. Left is the actor’s left, and right is the actor’s right. As the actor moves toward the audience, he moves downstage. When he moves away from the audience, he moves upstage.

Have your students act out the scene in front of the class. Try some of the staging (written in italics). Discuss whether the physical movements of the characters convey attitudes or emotions as well as their words.

Does this scene add anything to the play? Was it helpful to hear what Karl said to the Youngers?

Do you think Karl was trying to be helpful or was he serving his own needs and wants?

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c urr i c ulu m connections We believe that theatre can support and work in tandem with everyday classroom activities and scholastic goals. Below are some suggested activities that can be done for each production, with a focus on vocabulary, fluency, comprehension, and writing.

VOCAB U LARY

FL U ENCY

• Highlight words in the script that are unfamiliar.

• Read the script aloud in a large circle.

• Pair up and read scenes aloud together.

• Write definitions in the margins of the script.

• Pick a character and focus on reading his/her lines with accuracy and expression.

• Find synonyms for new vocabulary words.

• Find antonyms for new vocabulary words.

• Study the new vocabulary words for spelling tests.

• Switch roles so that the students have a chance to experiment with different vocal expressions for different characters (tone, tempo, and volume).

COM P REHENS I ON

W R I T I NG

• Create a story map for the play.

• Write journal entries or monologues using vocabulary words.

• Create a biography for one of the characters.

• Write a journal entry or monologue from the perspective of one of the characters.

• Map out the relationships in the play.

• Write a scene depicting part of the story that we hear about in the play, but is not in the stage action.

• Summarize the play.

• Summarize each individual scene.

• Write a review of the production.

• Summarize the play from the perspective of one of the characters.

• Write a letter to one of the cast members, designers, director, playwright, or staff members sharing your impression and questions regarding the show.

• Answer the essay and text-related questions.

• Discuss the play’s themes.

• Write a letter from one character to another.

• Discuss the current events that correlate with the themes of the play.

• Write a new ending to the play.

• Cut out articles from magazines and newspapers that discuss some of the issues and topics brought up in the play.

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F O R T H E F I R ST - TIME T H E A T R E G OE R In theatre etiquette, the major consideration to keep in mind is that your actions can be distracting not only to the rest of the audience, but to the actors on stage as well. Behavior that is acceptable in other public settings, like movie theatres, ballgames, or concerts, is out of place when attending the theatre.

The following tips should help you get acquainted with some DOs and DON’Ts for first-time theatregoers.

DO arrive early. Make considerations for traffic, parking, waiting in line, having your ticket taken, and finding your seat. If you need to pick up your tickets from the box office, it is a good idea to arrive at least twenty minutes early. Generally, you can take your seat when “the house is open,” about half an hour before the show begins.

Late seating is always distracting and usually not allowed until intermission or a transition between scenes, if it is allowed at all. Follow the old actors’ mantra: To be EARLY is to be ON TIME. To be ON TIME is to be LATE. To be LATE is UNFORGIVEABLE. DO dress appropriately. Going to the theatre is a special event for many people, and your clothing should reflect your respect. The dress code is casual, but not sloppy: hats, bandannas, and revealing clothes are a bad idea. Nice jeans are okay, but those with holes are not.

DO turn off your cell phone. Phones and any other noise-making devices should be switched off before you even enter the theatre: you won’t be allowed to use them anyway. Texting during a performance is also rude. The intermission is a good time to use your phone, but remember to turn it off again before the next act begins.

DON’T leave your garbage in the theatre. Food and drinks are usually not permitted in the theatre at all, with the exception of bottled water. If it is allowed, be sure to throw out your trash in a garbage can or recycling bin in the lobby; don’t leave it for the house manager or ushers at the end of a show.

DO watch your step. Aisles can be narrow, so please be considerate when finding your seat. Avoid getting up during the performance whenever possible, since it can be very distracting. You can use the restroom before the show and during intermission. Also, be careful not to cross in front of the stage, as it will break the illusion of the show. Don’t step on or over seats, and never walk on the stage itself.

DON’T talk during the performance. Chatting is extremely rude to the actors and the audience around you.

Everyone is trying to pay attention to the play and those nearby will be able to hear, so please be quiet and considerate.

DO get into it! Actors feed off of the audience, just as the audience feeds off of the actors. Don’t be afraid to laugh, clap, or cry if you are so moved. However, there is a line that can be crossed. Please be respectful, and don’t distract from the work of the professionals on stage. After all, people paid good money to watch the show, not you. Just enjoy the experience and let yourself have an honest response.

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