A Raisin in the Sun

A Raisin in the Sun is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The story is based upon Hansberry's own experiences growing up in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood. A Raisin in the Sun was the first play written by a black woman to be produced on Broadway, as well as the first play with a black director (Lloyd Richards) on Broadway.

Introduction

The title comes from the opening lines of "Harlem", a poem by Langston Hughes (1902-1967): "What happens to a dream deferred? / Does it dry up / like a raisin in the sun?" Throughout the play, the idea of deferred dreams is a prominent theme, as each member of the Younger family attempts to find his or her place amidst a number of difficult situations.

With its all African-American cast, A Raisin In The Sun was considered to be a risky investment, and it took over a year for producer Philip Rose to gather the money to launch the play. After touring to positive reviews, it premiered on Broadway on March 11, 1959, to enthusiastic critical approval. The New York Drama Critics' Circle named it the best play of 1959, and it ran for nearly two years. Hansberry noted that it introduced details of black life to the overwhelmingly white Broadway audiences, while director Richards noted that it was the first play to which large numbers of blacks were drawn. The New York Times stated that A Raisin in the Sun "changed American theater forever."

In 1960 A Raisin In The Sun was nominated for four Tony Awards:

Best Play - Written by Lorraine Hansberry; produced by Philip Rose, David J. Cogan

Best Actor in Play - Sidney Poitier

Best Actress in a Play - Claudia McNeil

Best Direction of a Play - Lloyd Richards

Original Broadway Cast

• Sidney Poitier - Walter Lee Younger
• Claudia McNeil - Lena Younger
• Ruby Dee - Ruth Younger
• Diana Sands - Beneatha Younger
• Ivan Dixon - Joseph Asagai
• Glynn Turman - Travis Younger
• John Fiedler - Karl Lindner
• Lonne Elder III - Bobo
• Ed Hall - Moving Man
• Douglas Turner Ward - Moving Man
• Louis Gossett Jr. (as Louis Gossett) - George Murchison

Produced by Philip Rose and David J. Cogan

Written by Lorraine Hansberry

Directed by Lloyd Richards

Designed by Ralph Alswang; Lighted by Ralph Alswang; Costumes by Virginia Volland; Sound Design by Masque Sound Engineering Company

General Manager: Walter Fried

Production Stage Manager: Leonard Auerbach; Stage Manager: Mervyn Williams

The original Broadway production opened on March 11, 1959 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. Both Elder and Ward became award-winning playwrights, and Gossett became the second African-American man (after Poitier) to win an Academy Award for acting. Ossie Davis, husband of co-star Ruby Dee, took over the lead when Poitier left the show. Beah Richards was the understudy for MacNeil. In October 1959, the production moved to the Belasco Theatre, where it stayed until closing on June 25, 1960.

Plot

The play deals with the working-class Younger family, as they dream of leaving behind the run-down tenement apartment where they have lived for many years. The son, Walter, a chauffeur, dreams of making a fortune by investing in a liquor store but foolishly gives his money to a con artist. His sister, Beneatha, a college student, tries to find her identity and embraces the back to Africa philosophy of a Nigerian friend, Joseph Asagai. The family's matriarch, Lena, dreams of buying a home, and does so with her late husband's insurance money, but the house is in an all-white neighborhood. Their racist future neighbors hire a man named Karl Lindner as a "welcoming committee" to try to buy them out to prevent the neighborhood's integration. However, Walter takes a stand and refuses to be intimidated or bought out.

The central idea of the play is concerned with combating the myth of black contentment. The stress of poverty is vividly portrayed through the tight quarters as five people are squeezed together onstage into a one-room apartment.

Litigation

The experiences in this play are also the subject of the lawsuit Hansberry v. Lee, 311 U.S. 32 (1940), in which the Hansberry family fought to have their day in court because a previous action about racially motivated restrictive covenants (Burke v. Kleiman, 277 Ill. App. 519 (1934)) was similar to the case at hand. They won their right to be heard as a matter of due process of law in relation to the Fourteenth Amendment, because the first suit was not directed towards a class of defendants, but only those defendants individually.

Interestingly, the plaintiff in the first action was Olive Ida Burke, who brought the suit on behalf of the property owner's association to enforce the racial restriction in 1934. Her husband, James Burke, was the person who sold the property to Carl Hansberry (Lorraine's father) when he changed his mind about the validity of the covenant. Mr. Burke's decision may have been motivated by the changing demographics of the neighborhood, but it was also influenced by the Depression. The demand for houses was so low among white buyers that Mr. Hansberry may have been the only prospective purchaser available. (See Allen R. Kamp, The History Behind Hansberry v. lee, 20 U.S. Davis L. Rev. 481 (1987))

Lorraine reflects upon the litigation in her book To Be Young Gifted and Black:

"25 years ago, [my father] spent a small personal fortune, his considerable talents, and many years of his life fighting, in association with NAACP attorneys, Chicago’s ‘restrictive covenants’ in one of this nation's ugliest ghettos. That fight also required our family to occupy disputed property in a hellishly hostile ‘white neighborhood’ in which literally howling mobs surrounded our house… My memories of this ‘correct’ way of fighting white supremacy in America include being spat at, cursed and pummeled in the daily trek to and from school. And I also remember my desperate and courageous mother, patrolling our household all night with a loaded German [L]uger [pistol], doggedly guarding her four children, while my father fought the respectable part of the battle in the Washington court."

2004 Revival

The play was revived for a limited run of 88 performances plus 32 previews on Broadway in 2004 at the Royale Theatre. The revival featured Tony Award-winning performances from Phylicia Rashad and Audra McDonald, a Tony Award-nominated performance from Sanaa Lathan, and the well-publicized Broadway acting debut of Sean "Diddy" Combs as Walter Younger. Bill Nunn played the part of Bobo. Rashad is the first African-American to win in the category of Best Lead Actress in a Play. The show recouped quickly and became the second highest grossing play in Broadway history. The production was noted for attracting a diverse audience and repeatedly breaking ticket sale records at the Royale .

Other versions

1961 film

Main article: A Raisin in the Sun (film)

In 1961, a film version of A Raisin in the Sun was released featuring its original Broadway cast of Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, Ivan Dixon, Louis Gossett, Jr. and John Fiedler. Hansberry wrote the screenplay, and the film was directed by Daniel Petrie. It was released by Columbia Pictures and Ruby Dee won the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress. Both Poitier and MacNeil were nominated for Golden Globe Awards, and Petrie received a special "Gary Cooper Award" at the Cannes Film Festival. However, the film received no Academy Award nominations.

It was not rated by the MPAA, 128 minutes long, and was filmed in black and white.

Musical

Main article: Raisin (musical)

In 1973, the play was turned into a musical, Raisin. Hansberry's former husband, Robert Nemiroff, wrote the book of the musical. It won the 1974 Tony Award for Best Musical.

TV Films

1989 Adaptation

In 1989 it was adapted into a made for TV movie starring Danny Glover and Esther Rolle. This production received three Emmy Award nominations, but all were for technical categories. Bill Duke directed the production, while Chee Lee produced the production, which also featured Starletta DuPois and John Fiedler, who had starred in the original Broadway production and the 1961 film version.

The cast, along with their character names, for the 1989 production are as follows: Danny Glover as "Walter Lee," Starletta DuPois as "Ruth," Esther Rolle as "Mama," and Kim Yancey as "Beneatha."

2008 Adaptation

Another made for television film, to premiere on February 25, 2008 on ABC. The cast is mostly made up of actors from the 2004 revival, including Sean Combs, Phylicia Rashad, Audra McDonald, and Sanaa Lathan. It is directed by Kenny Leon.

Trivia

• In the TV series Strangers with Candy, the school performs this in a school play. The major characters are played by three white students (Walter Lee was cut out of the play) while the rest of the drama club, which is entirely African American, play as trees in the background.
• At the age of 12 Rapper/Actor Tupac Shakur also starred in the play A raisin in the Sun as Travis while he was enrolled in Harlem's 127th Street Ensemble.

External links

• Study resource for writing about the play
• GradeSaver study guide
• ISU Play Concordances