Clybourne Park Cast Breakdown

The Characters Act I - 1959

Russ: A man selling his house in the Clybourne Park neighborhood of Chicago

Bev: Russ’ wife

Kenneth: Russ and Bev’s son, a Korean War veteran

Francine: Russ and Bev’s housekeeper

Jim: A neighborhood church minister

Albert: Francine’s husband

Karl: Russ and Bev’s neighbor who represents the Clybourne Park Neighborhood Association

Betsy: Karl’s deaf wife

The Characters Act II - 2009

Tom: A lawyer representing the Property Owners Association

Lindsey: A woman who, with her husband, is buying Russ and Bev’s old home

Steve: Lindsey’s husband

Kathy: Lindsey and Steve’s lawyer

Lena: A member of the Property Owners Association and relative of the family who bought the house from Russ and Bev

Kevin: Lena’s husband

Dan: A contractor working on the home

Clybourne Park is set in one house in two separate years: 1959 and 2009. In Act One, it’s 1959 and Bev and Russ are in the process of moving out of their modest bungalow in Clybourne Park, a completely white neighborhood in Chicago. The house and neighborhood have painful memories for them: there are many rumors going around the neighborhood about their son and his actions during the Korean War, and Bev and Russ want to escape the whispering and criticism. When they receive a visit from their neighbor Karl, a member of the Clybourne Park Neighborhood Association, telling of the neighborhood’s concerns about the new family moving in, Bev and Russ refuse Karl’s request to cancel the deal as they have a different perspective on things since their community has abandoned them.

Act II opens up 50 years later in the same bungalow where a meeting and discussion is taking place about the house. Clybourne Park is now a predominantly black community. Two of the people at the meeting are Lindsey and Steve, who are buying the house with plans to tear it down and build a more modern home. However, Lena, a member of the Property Owners Association and a relative of the black family who bought the house from Russ and Bev, argues against the house being demolished because she feels it’s an important part of the neighborhood’s history. The discussion between Lindsey, Steve, Lena, her husband, and a couple of lawyers soon changes from renovation to racial issues and tensions begin to rise.

The playwright, Bruce Norris, makes this interesting observation about the play: “In Clybourne Park, the first act is a tragedy and the second part is a comedy because the people in the first act all understand each other much more than the people do in the second act. In the second act everyone makes assumptions.”

Seven actors will be cast for the entire production. Actors playing Jim, Karl, and Betsy will use A.S.L. in some scenes.