A Raisin in the Sun

Synopsis

Walter Lee Younger has a dream - a dream that will get him and his family out of their tiny apartment in Southside Chicago. Money is coming, and with it will come freedom, dignity and ease. As the dream collapses a new man is born. And a new dream...Originally produced in 1959, A Raisin in the Sun was the first successful Broadway play by a Black writer. Hansberry was the youngest person and the first African-American to win the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play. When she was eight years old, a brick was thrown through the window of Lorraine Hansberry's home with such force that it embedded itself in a wall. The Hansberrys, a successful African-American family, had moved into an all-white area. This event and the legal fight that followed inspired her lifelong struggle for racial equality - and her most well known, groundbreaking and influential work A Raisin In the Sun.

Our Review:

Glenn Meads - 2 February 2010

With Debbie Allen's stirring production of Cat On A Hot Tin Roof wowing London audiences with an all black cast, what better time to reaquaint ourselves with Lorraine Hansberry's classic A Raisin In The Sun - the first play directed by a black woman to play on Broadway. Like the West End Cat, this fantastic production truly delivers.

Set in Chicago in 1959, this slow burning tale follows the lives of the Younger family, in their cramped and tired old rented home. Every day is a struggle; from the sprint to the shared bathroom, to their gallant efforts to fill the pantry. There is never enough money to go round.

Matriarch, Lena (Starletta DuPois) lives for her late husband's name and strives to do ...

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Latest User Review

Karl Burge - 3 February 2010:

Absolutely fantastic, this show is the first time I have given a standing ovation in a very long time. We were lucky enough to attend the first preview and the audience there clearly loved this piece of theatre. The cast were sublime, there was not one weak member in the entire company led from the matriarch of the family to the youngest cast member. Well deserved 5 stars by What's On Stage as well, this truly is a piece of theatre I felt privileged to have been able to witness....

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