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 a family'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 ("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 a cast in which all but one are African-Americans, "A Raisin in the Sun" was considered to be a risky investment, and it took over a year for producer Philip Rose to raise enough money to launch the play. After touring to positive reviews, it premiered on Broadway on March 11, 1959, to enthusiastic reviews. The New York Drama Critics' Circle named it the best play of 1959, and it ran for nearly two years and was produced on tour. Hansberry noted that it introduced details of black life to the overwhelmingly white Broadway audiences, while director Richards observed that it was the first play to which large numbers of blacks were drawn.Corley, Cheryl, [http://www.npr.org/programs/morning/features/patc/raisin/ 'A Raisin in the Sun', Present at the Creation] , National Public Radio, 11 March 2002] The "New York Times" stated that "A Raisin in the Sun" "changed American theater forever." [Rich, Frank, [http://theater2.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?_r=1&res=9D04E7DF173BF936A35753C1A965948260&oref=slogin Theater: 'Raisin in Sun,' Anniversary in Chicago] , New York Times, 5 October 1983]

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 - Berneatha 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

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

Plot

The play is about the Younger Family, as they dream of leaving behind the crowded, run-down Chicago apartment where they have lived since Ruth and Walter were married. The father, Walter, had big 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. Lena, mother of Beneatha and Walter, shares her daughter-in-law Ruth's dreams of buying a house, and does so with money from her late husband's insurance policy. However, the house is in an all-white neighborhood, where racist future neighbors send one of their members, a man named Karl Lindner, to try to buy them out and prevent the neighborhood's integration. Walter Lee, having been swindled, initially contemplates taking the money, but ultimately refuses to be intimidated or bought out.

Litigation

The experiences in this play echo a lawsuit "Hansberry v. Lee", 311 U.S. 32 (1940), to which the Hansberry family was a party when they 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. The Hansberry case was not bound by the Burke decision because the class of defendants in the respective cases had conflicting goals.

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. [Kamp, Allen R. "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."

Other versions

1961 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

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. This production was based on an off-Broadway revival produced by the Roundabout Theatre.

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, premiered on February 25, 2008 on ABC. The cast is mostly made up of actors from the 2004 revival, including Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, Phylicia Rashad, Audra McDonald, Sanaa Lathan, Sean Patrick Thomas and John Stamos. This version of the play was directed by Kenny Leon.

References

External links

* [http://www.paperstarter.com/raisin.htm Study resource for writing about the play]
* [http://www.gradesaver.com/classicnotes/titles/raisin/ GradeSaver study guide]
* [http://www.public.iastate.edu/~spires/Concord/raisin.html ISU Play Concordances]