

My hope is that this production illuminates not just the pain this family must endure but the love they have for one another that ultimately ensures their mutual growth.Lorriane Hansberry’s 1959 classic drama still resonates today

This play has had many productions and will continue to be one of the most important and well-crafted plays in the American Theater Canon. Their plan to move the family forward involves creating a fertile and open space where each family member can cultivate their dreams. They understand that the roots of a family are what bind, but life cannot thrive if the soil is not tended. at the center of this story because of the depth of his passion, I see two mothers, Ruth and Lena, quietly holding their family together and carrying the weight of the world as they do it. Though most productions place Walter Lee Younger, Jr. They just don't agree on the plan for progression. This sense of containment creates inevitable tension as they each try to move their family forward the best way they know how. Each of the Youngers is trying to grow in a place too small to contain their power or their passions.

Langston Hughes, "Harlem," originally published in the poem suite Montage of a Dream Deferred, copyright 1951.Ī Raisin in the Sun is, at its core, a play about the depths of the familial bond and the human drive for progress. Lorraine Hansberry titled A Raisin in the Sun from a line in the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes, included below. A stunning classic that examines the ways racism suppresses the lives and aspirations of Black families. As the family dynamics spin, it soon becomes clear that everyone has different ideas about how the money should be used, causing divisions, dishonesty and mistrust. But with this tragedy comes a rare financial gain for the family - a $10,000 insurance payment that could change their lives and fulfill dreams long postponed. On the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s, the Youngers have lost their patriarch. THIS PRODUCTION IS FUNDED, IN PART, BY A GENEROUS GIFT FROM U.S. An exquisite work of art, as compelling today as when it first emerged on stage.įeaturing Gina Daniels, Alys Dickerson, Tim Gittings, Charence Higgins, Rasell Holt, Chiké Johnson, Gavin Lawrence, Derrick Moore & Deanna Reed-Foster And through it all, knowing there’s always something to hope for. Their story an encapsulation of what it means to be oppressed, before birth and beyond death constantly pushing against the world, and each other. Three generations of love and tension simmer in a South Side walk-up, sheltering five souls whose long-postponed dreams may just have waited long enough. Lorraine Hansberry’s poetic rendering of a family, with all the petals and thorns intact. Equity & Anti-Racism Vision & Action Plan.
