Caroline or Change

Tonight I was on a panel at the National Constitution Center discussing the Tony Kushner play Caroline, or Change which recently was performed in Philadelphia. On the panel with me were two African American ministers.
The play was, on one level, a period piece-- a depiction of the relationship between an African American maid, Caroline, and a Jewish family, the Gellmans, in 1963 Louisiana. On another level, it was a powerful meditation on change, individual and societal. Change in this play comes in many forms--the young boy, Noah Gellman, looses his mother; a nation looses its president. Caroline resists change while her daughter Emmie embraces it.
I found the play extremely moving and, in many ways, heart breaking. Caroline's employer is Rose Gellman, new to her role as step mother to Noah and wife to Noah's grieving father.
Rose and Caroline in habit the same house, but for the most part stay in different stories--Caroline in the basement and Rose on the upper levels. They are, in another sense, also living in different stories, or narratives. And, sadly, they are clueless about each others stories. They really don't have the slightest idea who the other person is. What I found provocate was the question: How much has changed since 1963?
....I will write more later....