Clybourne Park

The play's second act begins in Russ and Bev's house, on a Saturday afternoon in 2009. Though still recognizable, the living spaces have become shabbier. The wood floors have been covered with linoleum, the wooden staircase is now metal, and the kitchen door is missing. Six people sit in a circlein the living room, on boxes and worn-down furniture. They are Kevin and Lena, a black couple who currently live in Clybourne Park, Steve and Lindsey, a white couple who recently purchased the house, and Tom and Kathy, lawyers for the two couples. Steve, Kathy, and Lindseypore over a sheaf of documents. Lindsey is pregnant. Tom interrupts the silence after a moment, asking, "Everybody good?" (43).

Steve answers by asking about terminology, specifically the word "frontage" (43). Kathy and Tom define the term for him, along with a few others. Steve expresses concern that he and Lindsey will be "screwed because of the language" (45) of the legal documents. He and Lindsey have recently purchased the run-down home, and have plans to demolish and rebuild it. Kevin asks how the language relates to the problem at hand, which concerns the potential height of the building. Each of the characters speak in short declaratives or questions, giving the room a tense mood. Steve, sensitive to the mood, even asks his wife if she has to say things"like that" (45).

Kathy's cell phone rings. She announces that it's Hector, the architect. Lindsey says that he "really oughta be here" (45), and Kevin asks whether they should wait for him. Steve says that they don't need to wait, but Lindsey insists that Hector is going to be upset. On the phone, Kathy tells Hector that she's at the house with Tom, the other lawyer, and Kevin and Lena, from the "property-owners…thing" (46). Lindsey starts to make small talk with Kevin, asking him about theneighborhood and comparing their daily work commutes. They realize that they work across the street from each other in downtown Chicago. Kevin even works with a friend of Steve's, a man named Kyle Hendrickson. On the phone, Kathy tells Hector that he's being paranoid, and she won't "let that happen" (46). Lindsey asks to speak to Hector, which Kathy reluctantly allows. She leaves the stage to finish the phone call.

Steve resumes the group's conversation with a single word: "Spaniards" (47). He explains that he's referring to Hector, the architect, and describes Spaniards as "temperamental" (47). Kevin seems to agree, or at least understand Steve's assessment, but Tom says that Hector "seemed cool to me" (47). Steve then concedes that Hector is a "good guy" (47). Kathy tries to steer the conversation away from Hector, offering that she and her husband were in Spain and Morocco the year before. Steve, though, continues to engage Kevin about Hector. After a pause, Kathy takes the floor, talking about little details of her trip. She insists that she loved it, but most of her memories are warnings about the heat and intestinal distress from eating fresh produce.

Kevin says that he and Lena went to Prague last April. He and Kathy banter about the architecture until Lena interrupts, asking if she "could say something to everyone" (48). The rest of the room invites her to speak, however Steve cuts her off just as she begins, asking if they should wait for Lindsey. Lena agrees to wait. Tom suggests they continue looking at the legal documents, so they all try to get onto the same page.

Steve turns to Kathy and says, "Rabat, by the way" (49). This sidetracks the conversation once again, and Steve, Tom, and Kathy argue for a moment about the correct capital of Morocco. Lindsey returns, and hands the phone back to Kathy. She explains that Hector felt "a little proprietary," (50) but dismisses him. Steve still hasn't dropped the argument about Morocco's capital and now ropes Lindsey into the conversation. This continues until Lindsey says, "Who gives a shit," (51), and Dan, a construction worker, enters the house.

At this moment, Lindseyattempts to get Steve to stop arguing, which makes him feel infantilized, while Lena tries to resume her own speech. She barely gets started when Lindsey explains, by way of apology, that she's rude because she's "Irish Catholic" (51). Jumping in on Lindsey's explanation, Kathy offers that her husband is "half-Jewish, half-Italian" (51), hence she can't "get a word in edgewise" (51). She prompts Lena to continue, but Lindsey asks Lena if her name is short for Leonora, her own aunt's name. Before Lena can respond, Dan, the construction worker, starts talking.

Dan says Hector told him to talk to Steve if he had a problem. He explains that he's digging a trench in the backyard for the conduit line, but has run into an issue with tearing out the dead tree. Its roots go down about eight feet. Steve heads out back with Dan to look at the issue.

While they're gone, Tom redirects the conversation back to the legal documents. A petition has been drawn upby Kevin and Lena's neighborhood association to prevent Steve and Lindsey from expanding their building beyond a certain height. If they choose to add height to the house, they would have to "reduce the total exterior volume" (53) to keep the building from looking completely out of place in the context of the houses around it. Kathy disagrees that most of the houses in the "twelve-block radius" (53) about which Tom is talking are "consistent" (54). She explains that there are variables between the house's years of construction, and the size of their lots. Tom seems to think that the petition will pass with the Landmarks' Committee, but Kathy expresses concern that it won't. Lindsey interjects that she and Steve "talked about renovation" (54), but decided that it would be more fiscally viable to "start from scratch" (54). Tom responds that the height of their rebuild is what prompted Lena and Kevin to contact him with their concerns. The new house would be 15 feet, 3 inches taller than any of the "adjacent structures" (54). He argues for the benefits of keeping the house in the same style as those around it. He gets interrupted by a work call and leaves the room to take it. Steve returns from his talk with Dan.

Lena suggests that they all turn off their phones, but no one acknowledges her. Lindsey asks Steve if he figured out the problem. He responds with a dismissive "I dunno" (55) to her questions, but finally explains, to Kevin, that Dan hit something while trying to put in the filtration system for the koi pond they're building. They try to regroup the conversation, but are waiting for Tom to get off the phone. Kevin reiterates that they need to leave by four, and Lena, visibly irritated, fans herself with her hand. Making small talk, Kevin asks Steve and Lindsey when their baby is due and whether it's a boy or a girl. Lindsey responds by sticking her fingers in her ears, closing her eyes, and saying that she didn't want to know. Steve, who saw the ultrasound, responds by mouthing the word 'boy' to Kevin.

After a brief pause, Steve turns to Kevin and says, "So Kyle Hendrickson?" (56). It takes Kevin a moment, but then he remembers his co-worker. Steve says that Kyle, "the one solitary black dude in my entire high school," (56) beat him up in the tenth grade. Kevin can't quit believe it, given Kyle's short stature, but Steve explains that Kyle was on the JV Wrestling team at their high school. Overhearing their conversation, Lindsey turns to Steve and asks who he's talking about. Steve tries to jog her memory about a recent run-in he had with Kyle, but she doesn't get it. Then Steve remembers a joke that Kyle told him that he and Lindsey "both thought was funny" (57). Lindsey slowly realizes the joke that Steve's about to tell and tries, discreetly, to get him to stop. He doesn't understand why, so she abruptly changes the subject by asking Lena how old her kids are. Kevin responds that they are "nine, ten, and twelve" (57). Steve won't let go of telling the joke, and, ignoring her, begins to tell Kevin, "Two guys stuck in a jail cell—" (57). Lindsey cuts him off.

Finally, Lena, having reached her wit's end, apologizes for continuing to interrupt, but wants to know "what it is we're doing here?" (58). The room goes quiet and the lawyers, Kathy and Tom, both get off their phones. Lena reminds the room that she's been waiting fifteen minutes to have a chance to speak. Tom, Kevin, Lindsey, and Kathy all mutter apologies and explanations. Outside, a truck horn sounds. Kevin invites Lena to speak, which she finds insulting. Kevin insists that Lena is being friendly, and Lindsey agrees. Steve also claims that he's being friendly. Apologetically, Lindsey takes the blame for interrupting Lena, saying, "No, it's us" (58). Everyone apologizes again, but Steve asks Kevin if he was "disrespectful" (59). Lena begins to speak, but the truck horn outside sounds twice more. Turning to Steve, Lindsey whispers, "Just shut the door" (59), which he does.

Lena says she's not sure what everyone's connections to the neighborhoods in which they grew up are, but she feels strongly connected to Clybourne Park. This is because, as she explains, of a "particular period in history" and the people in the neighborhood who went through "a whole lot of obstacles," but were still able to "carve out a life for themselves" (59). She goes onto say that her history, and her parents' history, are tied up in the neighborhood, and that she doesn't like "having to dictate what you can or can't do with your own home" (59). However, she can't extricate herself from the pride in or memories of the Clybourne Park neighborhood. She finishes by saying that respecting those memories "has value, too" (59).

The room goes silent for a while after her speech. Steve jumps in to ask Lena to clarify what she means by the word “value.” "Historical value," (60) she responds. Steve then asks her to specify if she also meant "monetary value" (60), which she did not. Lena begins to say that her great-aunt was "one of the first people of color to" (60) to buy a home in Clybourne Park. Steve steamrolls this line of conversation by stating that the property values in the neighborhood, including Kevin and Lena's, have gone up in recent years. Kevin agrees,and Tom says that they'd "like to keep it that way" (60).

Lindsey turns to Lena and says that she appreciates what she had to say, but that it was also why she sometimes felt "defensive" (60) about their plans for the house. She says that they would never want to carelessly disregard Lena's, or anyone's, feelings about the neighborhood. Lindsey admits that she was "resistant" to moving to Clybourne Park at first, given "the way it used to be," but now that she's seen "what it is now and its potential," (60) she's had a change of heart. Insulted, Lena responds with, "Used to be what?" (60). Steve says that the neighborhood was "originally…German, predominantly" (61). Kathy jumps in, saying that her father, who was German, lived in Clybourne Park in the 1950s, but that he and her mother, who was Swedish, moved "out to Rosemont" (61) when Kathy was born.

Trying to move the conversation forward, Steve tells Kevin and Lena about a "great article…about the history of the changing, uh, ethnic" (61) makeup of Clybourne Park since the 1970s. Kathy and Lindsey join in, trying to clarify whether the 1990s saw a period of growth, decline, or trouble, and what kind of trouble it might have been. Kevin agrees, adding that, "There was trouble" (61) during that time, particularly with drugs and violence. Lindsey calls violence "an outgrowth or the criminalization of those drugs" (62). Gesturing to himself and Lena, Kevin says, "Ya know, the two of us wuz both crackheads" (62). The room falls silent, then Steve, Lindsey, and Kathy trip over each other, explaining that the joke isn't funny because that "was the perception" (62). Uncomfortable with this kind of humor, Lindsey insists that "when people are systematically dehumanized" (62) by having to live in "the projects" (62), communityformation doesn't happen. She laments the construction of government-subsidized housing in black communities, which Steve calls a "ghetto" (62), but which Lindsey refuses to label as such. Lena tries to relate her family's experience, but Steve insists on defending his use of the word ghetto by relating it to a "Jewish ghetto" (62) in Prague.

Rolling her eyes, Lena says that they've "been to Prague" (63). Lindsey expresses her love for Prague, but Kevin and Kathy disagree. Kevin asks Steve if he skied and the conversation devolves into Lindsey teasing Steve about his inability to ski. Trying to wrangle the conversation, Tom interrupts and redirects everyone's attention to page three of the legal documents. This attention is fleeting, and the conversation soon turns back to Lena's words about the neighborhood. Kathy asks on which street she grew up, and they realize that, had Kathy's family stayed in Clybourne Park, they would have been neighbors. Lena explains that she wasn't trying to make the conversation about her "personal connection to the house," (64) which she reveals once belonged to her great-aunt. This shocks Steve, Lindsey, and Kathy. Kevin says that Lena's aunt had to "save a long time to be able to afford a house like this," (65) especially as a "domestic worker" (65). Lena recalls that when she was growing up, she didn't see "a single white face" (65) in Clybourne Park for most of her life. Kevin reminds her about Mr. Wheeler, a white man who bagged groceries at Gelman's, which became a Sup'r Sav'r, and is currently a Whole Foods. Steve asks what happened to Mr. Wheeler and Kevin responds that he's "dead, probably" (65). He had a developmental disability, Lena says. Trying to sympathize, Kathy adds that her niece has Asperger's.

Continuing, Lena wonders aloud whether "the thing that happened here in this house" (65) was a factor in her great-aunt's ability to afford it. Steve and Lindsey have no idea what she's talking about. Kevin tries to downplay the event, but Steve insists on finding out what it is. Lena explains that the son of the family who owned the house before her great-aunt had killed himself in the house. Lindsey is shocked that the realtor sold the house to Lena's great-aunt without telling her about the suicide. She asks whether "legally" realtors "have to tell people that" (67), but Kathy says that they don't. Lena says the son had been accused of killing civilians in the Korean War. Distraught, Lindsey walks into the kitchen, followed by Steve. She rants about how it should be illegal to sell someone a house without telling them something like that. Returning, she complains that now she has "this horrifying image in my head" (67). Steve tries to dissipate the tension by saying that it's not like "he's still hanging up there" (67). This comment causes Lindsey to "lose her shit" (68), and she begins yelling at Steve.

Dan, the construction worker, enters the living room through the kitchen. He is dragging the green army foot locker, now covered with dirt and mold, behind him. He starts saying how he thought it might be buried treasure, but realizes he may be interrupting their conversation. As Dan explains that they need bolt-cutters to get the padlock off, Steve and Lindsey direct him outside. Lindsey apologizes for yelling, while Dan yells for another worker to see about bolt-cutters.

Tom again tries to direct the group's focus back to the legal document. He says that one option for settling the issues of the petition is to reduce the proposed height of the new building, to which Kathy, and Lindsey, object. Reading from the city council's petition, Tom reminds them that Clybourne Park's "distinctive collection of low-rise single-family homes…intended to house a community of working-class families" (70) have historic stats. To this, Steve and Lindsey respond that "communities change" (70). Lena agrees with this assessment, but asks them "who exactly is responsible for that change" (70). She goes on to explain that changes being made to this "desirable area" (70) may be beneficial for some, but not to "a particular group" (70) of inhabitants. Steve asks her to clarify which group she is referring to, but doesn't get an answer. Frustrated, Steve asks Lena and the others to "say what it is we're really saying instead of doing this elaborate little dance around it" (71). This statement halts the conversation.

Lena pressures Steve to say what it is he thinks she's been talking about, while Lindsey tries to get him to drop it. Stammering, Steve finally replies that racism is what he thinks they've been dancing around. Lindsey says she has no idea what he's talking about, but Lena counters by saying that the "original issue" was the "large house” (72) that Steve and Lindsey plan to build. She goes onto say that she's "fairly certain" that Steve has called her a racist, which Steve denies saying. He backpedals, trying to clarify that he said racism, not racist, but no one has his back, including Lindsey. He then shifts the blame to Lena, whom he claims came into the conversation with "all these issues" (72). Lena says she only cared about the potential construction and accuses Steve of "creating an issue. Where none exists" (73). However, Steve says Lena spoke about a "secret conspiracy" (73) against people of color. Lena specifies that "it's not a secret" (73), but Kevin disagrees that the conspiracy even exists. This frustrates Lena. Meanwhile, Lindsey tries to communicate that she doesn't share Steve's opinions, insisting, "Half of my friends are black!" (73). When pressed by Steve to name them, Lindsey offers two names, one of whom is her coworker.

Again, Tom tries to refocus the conversation, adding sarcastically that he'd "love to sit here and review all of American history" (73), but that they should get back to the matter at hand. Unsatisfied with letting it go, Steve replies that American history is the history of private property" (74). To this, Lena tells Steve that his grandparents probably weren't "sold as private property" (74). Unfazed, Steve draws out his argument by claiming that humans are territorial. That, he says, is what's happening now with Clybourne Park: one group has "this territory" and doesn't want white people to take it away, like they've "stolen everything else from black America" (74). Lindsey tries to get Steve to stop, but he goes on to complain that there's a "double standard" (74) between what white people and black people can and can't say. He offers up Lindsey's censorship of his retelling of a joke that "the one black I know told me" (74) as evidence. Kevin encourages him that if he "feels so oppressed" then he should "tell the goddamn joke” (74), or "move on" (74).

Lena insists on hearing the joke to decide for herself whether it's offensive, as Lindsey claims it is, or not. Steve backpedals, saying that he doesn't remember the joke now, and Lindsey says that it's offensive to her because it's asinine and based on "the worst possible type of obsolete bullshit stereotypes" (74). None of this dissuades Lena from pushing Steve to tell it. She prompts him with the set-up: two men in jail, one white and one black. Steve eventually agrees to tell it, with the caveat that it's not his joke, but his black friend's.

The joke as Steve tells it goes: A "little white guy" (75) goes to jail for "embezzlement" (75), and is put into a cell with a "big black guy" (75). As the jailer closes the cell door, the black man says to the white man that he has a choice of being either "the mommy" or "the daddy" (75). The white guy chooses to be the daddy. To this the black man says, "bend over 'cause Mommy's gonna fuck you in the ass" (76).

During the telling of the joke, Steve stammers a few times, Lena prompts him to continue, Lindsey tries to get him to stop, and Kathy says that she's heard this joke before. After Steve's last word, the room goes silent. No one laughs or smiles. Some shake their heads. Finally, Kathy reflects that this wasn't the joke she was thinking of. Steve asks the room if it was offensive. Lena replies that, no, it wasn't offensive, but it was also isn’t funny. "No shit," (76) Lindsey says. Steve insists that Lindsey laughed when he first told it to her. He explains that the "reason it's funny is, is, is that it plays upon certain latent fears of…white people" (76). Tom adds that he is gay. Steve apologizes, Lindsey patronizes Steve, and Kathy tells Tom that she "couldn't tell at all" (76).

Tom asks Steve if gay sex is inherently funny. "It's not even sex," Tom says. "It's rape!" (76). Kathy offers that her sister was raped, so the joke is offensive to her. Lindsey agrees. Steve explains that it's offensive to everyone—that's the "point of the joke" (76). At this point, Kevin asks how many white men it takes to change a light bulb. All but Steve, Lena, and Kathy discourage Kevin from telling the joke. He goes ahead and answers: "all of 'em" (77), one to hold the bulb, and the rest to "screw the entire world" (77). Steve proclaims that he's not offended. Kathy says she's going to tell that to her husband. Tom "begs to differ" (77). Lindsey tries to stop the parlay, but it's futile.

Steve tells a racist joke about black boys. Kevin replies that it doesn't offend him, and Steve says it doesn't offend him, either. Exhausted, Lindsey tells Steve that, as a white male, he "can't be offended" (77) because he's "never been politically marginalized, unlike the majority of the people in the world" (77). Steve asks how a majority can be marginalized, and Lindsey accuses him of "classic white male myopia" (77).

Not engaging in the conversation Lindsey's trying to open, Lena asks, "Why is a white woman like a tampon?" (77). Kevin tries to stop her from following through with the joke, but she continues. "Because they're both stuck up cunts," she announces, and silences the room, once again (77). Lena says she hopes Lindsey isn't offended. Steve finds the joke funny, but Kathy is offended. Lindsey wonders why it "always comes back around to the women" (78). Lena says, facetiously, that it was "just a joke" (78), but Kathy is truly offended. She wants to know what makes her "stuck-up" (78). Is it that she worked incredibly hard, put herself through law school, and is intelligent? Steve reminds her that she doesn't "even know the fucking capital of Morocco" (78). He goes onto imply that, because he isn't "exactly…sitting in the White House" (78), he, too, should be categorized as marginalized. Steve says that he's offended by their current neighborhood that’s full of "white suburban assholes" driving SUVs sporting yellow ribbon magnets, the kind that shows support for the military (78). Kevin asks sincerely why that makes his neighbors assholes. Steve says it's not the magnet that makes them assholes. Lindsey asks if Kevin has one on his car, and he replies that yes, he has three, "one for each member of my family serving overseas" (79). Lindsey tells Steve that he's the asshole, and needs to catch up with "the rest of the world" (79), who are all having a "more sophisticated conversation" (79) about these things than he's capable of having. She also says that she used to "date a black guy" (79).

Outside, a church bell rings. Tom says that it's four o'clock, the agreed upon time to end their meeting. Steve slyly asks Lindsey to clarify her comment about dating a black man. Kevin and Lena have nothing further to ask or say. Lindsey says that she feels hurt by the implication she feels Lena has made, which calls her ethics into question. Lena clarifies that it wasn't her ethics, but her taste that she called into question. Making to leave, Tom tells Kathy he'll contact her when the petition goes through. Insulted by Lena's comment, Lindsey presses her to define what she means about taste. Kevin stops Lena from answering and Lena leaves the house. Tom and Kathy both depart.

Dan re-enters the house, carrying bolt cutters. Kevin offers Lindsey and Steve a polite goodbye, wishes them good luck with the house, then exits. Thinking Kevin is out of earshot, Steve tells Lindsey that Lena "is the cunt" (80). Instantly, Kevin reappears and advances on Kevin. Following him, Lena says to drop it, but Kevin is intent on making Steve own up to what he said. Kevin tells Steve that when he does repeat what he said, he's going to "slap the taste" out of Steve's mouth (81). Frustrated, Lena asks Kevin if this is what it takes for him to stand up for her. Sensing the escalating conflict, Dan puts his hand on Kevin's shoulder and says, "Let's be civilized" (81). This enrages Kevin, and he threatens Dan. Steve asks Dan to step off. The conflict breaks into two arguments, one between each couple. Lena calls Kevin out for trying to "be everybody's friend" (81) all afternoon, and Kevin accuses Lena of being "paranoid and delusional" (82). Meanwhile Lindsey asks why Steve had to insult their lawyer, Kathy, and Steve admits that he agrees with everyone that "The house is too fucking big!" (81). Lindsey replies that Steve can live wherever he wants and come by the house to visit her and the baby. Kevin and Lena leave the house while Steve and Lindsey continue to argue. Their conversation has devolved into how Lindsey gave Steve an ultimatum: have a baby with her, or get divorced.

Amidst the arguments, Dan has managed to open the green trunk. As Steve and Lindsey leave the house angrily, a young man wearing a military uniform and carrying a legal pad and a transistor radio comes down the stairs. Unnoticed by Dan, Steve, or Lindsey, he sits down by a window near the front door. Dan takes an old-looking envelope out of the trunk, then, yelling hello to confirm he's alone in the house, sits down on the trunk and begins to read the letter aloud. As he does this, the stage lights change to a dim, early-morning level of light. The young man, Russ and Bev's son, Kenneth, switches on the transistor radio and begins to write. Bev comes down the stairs in her robe and slippers. Kenneth turns down the radio as she asks what he's doing downstairs. He tells her that he's writing a letter. She tells him that she overslept because she slept poorly and asks why he's dressed up in his uniform. He says that he has a job interview.

From the front door, Francine enters the house. She is wearing street clothes and a head scarf, and carries a wet umbrella. The three of them greet each other. Bev asks her if it's raining, and Francine replies that it's "sprinkling a little" (84). Bev says it's good for the grass as she moves to the bottom of the stairs. She hesitates before going up, and Kenneth asks whether she's going back to sleep. She replies pensively that she will, then turns to Kenneth and, with a cheerier attitude says that even though things have been hard for them these past few years, she thinks "things are about to change" (84). Kenneth doesn't react to this statement. As she starts up the stairs she asks him if he has enough light. He says he does, and she tells him not to "hurt [his] eyes" (84). As she disappears up the stairs, Kenneth turns the radio back up and continues to write. Dan has continued to read the letter. The lights fade as the song on the radio finishes, and the play ends.