NEW YORK—Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun” was the first play by an African-American woman to appear on Broadway, where it played more than 50 years ago at this very theater.
The present revival is more than justified by Kenny Leon’s masterful direction of Hansberry’s classic play of the struggles of an African-American family in Eisenhower-era Chicago.
Of course the presence of stage/screen superstar Denzel Washington is a big draw, but his artistic integrity melds him easily into Walter Lee Younger, the grown son of the family. The family is ruled by powerful matriarch Lena, played by the indomitable LaTanya Richardson Jackson.
The prize of a life insurance settlement soon becomes a bone of contention. By working his fingers to the bone, Lena’s husband has died, and the gigantic sum of $10,000 soon comes to Lena to do with as she pleases. But that extraordinary sum could enable others in the family to pursue their individual dreams.
Hansberry not only skillfully created individual characters who are members of a particular family, but who display varied personalities, each with his or her very different needs or desires.
Walter wants desperately to expand beyond his dead-end job as a chauffeur. His salvation, he feels, is to buy a liquor store, which is, however, in conflict with the strongly religious Lena.
Walter’s younger sister, Beneatha (Anika Noni Rose), is modern, ambitious, and liberal-minded with the goal of becoming a doctor.
She also has two beaus, each of whom represents polar opposite ends of the spectrum of money and idealism: George (Jason Dirden), a wealthy, smug African-American college boy, and Joseph Asagai (Sean Patrick Thomas), a Nigerian filled with noble ideas who tries to instill Beneatha with the desire to go to Africa with him.
Ruth (Sophie Okonedo), Walter’s long-suffering wife, worries about her husband’s growing dissatisfaction with their lives. Their son, Travis (Bryce Clyde Jenkins), a basically decent young boy, would like more material things than his parents can presently give him.
Although the greater part of the play’s language is on a conversational level, almost every character reaches a high emotional point that raises his dialogue to a level of pain and/or passion.
The relative stability of the household is ruffled after Lena makes an extreme move to alter their status for the better: A stranger, a white man from another community, Karl Lindner (David Cromer), pays the family a visit, which may cause enormous changes in all their lives.
Masked beneath a gentle manner, Lindner displays a subtle racism as he quietly tries to dissuade the family from progressing in their lives.
In a small but potent role, Walter’s friend Bobo (Stephen McKinley Henderson) effectively but sadly bears devastating news for Walter.
The crux hinges on whether Walter will have the courage to make painful sacrifices regarding a life-changing moral stance or take the easy and more profitable way out.
The marvel of the play is that it can be extrapolated to mirror the hopes and dreams and disappointments of almost any of us of any race or nationality, now or in the future. It is universal, which accounts for its ongoing appeal and viability.
The production is an exquisite example of ensemble work, so tightly knit that the family members seem to be actual family; supporting players merge seamlessly into the proceedings.
In minor roles, two furniture movers are played by Keith Eric Chappelle and Billy Eugene Jones.
Mark Thompson’s grungy but respectable set, with mismatched wallpaper, is an appropriate background for the Younger family, who are suitably attired in Ann Roth’s modest costumes.
Hansberry, who won various prizes for “Raisin,” unfortunately died young at the age of 34 in 1965.
‘A Raisin in the Sun’
Ethel Barrymore Theatre
243 West 47th Street
Running Time: 2 hours, 40 minutes
Tickets: 212-239-6300 or visit telecharge.com
Closes: June 15
Diana Barth publishes New Millennium, an arts publication.
