We were tempted here to the American Conservatory Theater by reviews of Clybourne Park - "verbal firecrackers; dialogue explodes across the stage", "tour de force exchange", ".. the roots of America's racial divisions are as deep and complexly intertwined as those of the tree in the garden of the crumbling house".
The glowing reviews were widespread, the awards many. So what happened? Last night's production was sold out, yet massively underwhelmed.
The idea, that a slowly-building story set in a 1950s house where the owners are about to move out and make way for black buyers, only really works if the 'slow' gets faster. While 20 minutes of the second act was genuinely rapid-fire stuff, the rest of the two hours was tedious, unfunny (it was billed as a comedy), and broke no new ground whatsoever.
Theater pickings are slim, hence the sold out mediocrity.
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