A Raisin in the Sun
Encyclopedia : A : AR : ARA : A Raisin in the Sun
A Raisin in the Sun is a play from 1959 by Lorraine Hansberry. It is the story of the Younger family, based on 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. The title comes from a poem by Langston Hughes.
The play concerns the working-class Younger family, who dream of leaving behind the dilapidated tenement apartment where they have lived for decades. 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 somewhat flighty college student, tries to find her identity and embraces the "back to Africa" philosophy of a Nigerian friend. Their mother, the matriarch, 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; in this, he stops deferring his family's dreams and helps them advance.
The central idea of the play is concerned with combating the myth of black contentment. The stress of poverty is vividly portroyed through the tight quarters as five people are squeezed together onstage into a one room apartment.
Other versions
In 1961, A Raisin in the Sun was adapted into a feature film starring its first-run Broadway cast of Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Roy Glenn and Claudia McNeil.In 1973, the play was turned into an acclaimed musical, Raisin.
In 1989, it was adapted into a made for TV movie starring Danny Glover and Esther Rolle.
Revival on Broadway
The play was revived for a limited run of fifteen weeks 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 performance of Sean "Diddy" Combs. 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.Censorship
In at least one printed version of the play, Walter's line "Why all you college boys wear them faggoty-looking white shoes?" has "funny" substituted for "faggoty".Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, Elements of Literature: Fifth Course.Trivia
Spike Lee's 1994 film Crooklyn is heavily influenced by A Raisin in the Sun.References
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.