Bruce Norris

At head of title: "The Royal Court presents."

Royal Court Theatre Presents Clybourne Park

A hilarious social satire about liberal hypocrisy from an American writer whose work has been staged by the world famous Steppenwolf Theatre. A cosy family Thanksgiving dinner for six. But someone - or something - is leaving bite marks in the avocados. Clay and Kelly's daughter Kayla has an itch and Carol can't remember who played Gandhi. Bruce Norris's play The Pain and the Itch holds up a mirror to those who want it all: moral superiority and a widescreen TV. It was first staged by Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago in June 2005. The play received its New York premiere at Playwrights Horizons in September 2006, and was first performed in the UK at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in June 2007.

The Pain and the Itch

Winner of Best Play, Evening Standard Awards 2010.

A Play

Clybourne Park

Clay and Kelly live in an expensive modern home with their four-year old daughter Kayla and new baby. They're desperately trying to do everything "right" and to hold the "right" opinions. But when Kayla acquires a hypodermic and a nasty rash in a sensitive place, they jump to conclusions. A social satire about liberal hypocrisy.

An acerbically brilliant satire that explores the fault line between race and property. In 1959, Russ and Bev are selling their desirable two-bed for a knock-down price, enabling the first black family to move into the neighbourhood and alarming the cosy white urbanites of Clybourne Park, Chicago. In 2009 the same property is being bought by Lindsey and Steve, a young white couple, whose plan to raze the house and start again is met with a similar response. As the arguments rage and tensions rise, ghosts and racial resentments are once more uncovered... Bruce Norris's play Clybourne Park was first performed at Playwrights Horizons, New York City, in February 2010. The play received its European premiere at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in September 2010, transferring to Wyndham's Theatre in the West End in February 2011. The play received numerous awards, including the London Evening Standard Award for Best Play, the Critics Circle Award for Best New Play, the Olivier Award for Best New Play, the Tony Award for Best Play and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

THE STORY: With a young daughter in serious need of attention and a ravenous creature possibly prowling the upstairs bedrooms, what begins as an average Thanksgiving for one privileged family unravels into an exposé of disastrous choices and less-t

Set in western equatorial Africa, The Unmentionables opens with a pugnacious monologue warning the audience to get out while they still have a chance to do something really fun - like watch cable television. Those who resist this directive are treated to a biting satire featuring four Americans hoping to "do good in the world": a young Christian missionary and his ex-fiancee, a disenchanted Hollywood actress, and an aging, wealthy businessman and his desperately lonely wife. A fire set at the missionary's home ignites a night of painful disillusionment, as their notions of how to help the locals are exploded by the realities of money, power, and politics. The stakes rise steadily until they are forced to confront the question of the value of a single life.

The Unmentionables

A provocative new play from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Clybourne Park.

Bruce Norris

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