Clybourne Park

A good-natured, if nervous,white woman in her 40s, married to Russ, Bev lives in the home that Lena Younger, the matriarch in A Raisin in the Sun, purchases. She seems to be processing the grief of her son's suicide in a more functional way than her husband, and even has the capacity to reach out to Jim, a local clergyman, to help her husband deal with his grief-induced depression. Bev is a gracious host, offering each of her guests iced tea, and explaining that they used to have people over more often before the tragedy. When informed that a black family has purchased her home, Bev doesn't seem concerned. Instead, she wonders whether everyone shouldn't have a chance to thrive, regardless of race. She stands her ground on the matter, though not aggressively so, throughout Act I. When her son comes up, she defends him, and expresses denial about the crimes he committed while serving in the military. At Act One's end, though, she does wonder what she'll do with all of her time once she and Russ move to a new home, thus revealing some anxiety about the effect grief can have on an idle mind.