Review by Dan Sinclair
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ An exceptional production of one of the greatest plays of the last century.
In 1937, Carl Hansberry purchased a property for his family in Woodlawn, an all-white neighbourhood of Chicago. Not wanting any black families to move into the area, around 500 white homeowners signed an agreement stating “that for a specified period no part of the land should be ‘sold, leased to or permitted to be occupied by any person of the colored race.’” Carl Hansberry took his legal battle against this through the Illinois Courts right up to the Supreme Court.
Carl's daughter, Lorraine Hansberry’s family drama, A Raisin in the Sun opened in March 1959 on Broadway and scooped up the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play of the Year. At the time this made her the fifth female, and the youngest recipient of the award. And to date, this makes her the only African American ever to win it. Inspired by her own father’s legal battles, A Raisin in the Sun tells the story of the Younger family, and their attempts to find freedom in a society that will forever try to keep them down.
Ruth (Cash Holland), her husband Walter Lee (Solomon Israel) and their son Travis are getting ready for the day ahead, but there is life-changing news in the mail. Water Lee’s father recently passed, and they are expecting a $10,000 insurance check to come through. As the final voice on what happens to the money, Lena, or Mama (Doreene Blackstock) is caught between a number of options. Her son, Walter Lee, has dreams of board meetings and Cadillacs, so wants to put it all in on a business scheme set up by his friend Willie. Lena’s other child Beneatha (Joséphine-Fransilja Brookman) dreams of medical school and becoming a doctor. Ruth, discovering she is again pregnant and fearing how they will survive with another mouth to feed, just wants to be free of these four walls. Running alongside this decision is Beneatha and her discovery of who she truly is, caught between her college-educated boyfriend George (Gilbert Kyem Jnr) and Joseph (Kenneth Omole), a Nigerian-born member of the growing civil rights movement.
This cast is firing on all cylinders, it’s a masterclass in acting from every single member, and I was genuinely on the edge of my seat. The beauty of Hansberry’s script is that every single performer has so much to do, it’s a perfect balance. I have that unfortunate issue for a reviewer of being slightly lost for words, the overall feeling is just one of joy at being allowed to see 8 top class actors perform one of the greatest plays. That all being said, as matriarch Lena, Doreene Blackstock is masterful and I struggle to describe it beyond that she honestly gave possibly the finest performance I’ve ever seen. You have to watch her.
Whilst brief, a handful of scene changes are scored with real flair by Max Pappenheim. Quick and driving, they manage to tell a story every time: the hum of Chicago, industrial groaning, gospel, jazz, big band, drums, the sound of a railroad chain gang, it all combines beautifully. Cécile Trémolières’s dilapidated room is rotting, the paint and walls seem to be flaking off onto the cockroach-ridden rug, but Lena’s green plant always stays bright. Their design still gives us a sense of depth, the rear staircase looms large and we get flashes of the other rooms of the house, paired with Joshua Pharo’s lighting we get some truly stunning moments of staging - the ending image is truly something else.
A Raisin in the Sun is one of the greatest plays of the 20th century, and Tinuke Craig’s direction brings out the very best in it. In heartbreaking detail, we see Lena’s attempts to break her family out of the cycle of generational poverty and find some breathing room, free from the White American Dream. I was completely touched and even though critics feel strange about standing ovations, I was straight on my feet along with the rest of the audience. I urge you to go and watch it: laugh, cry, then think.
A Raisin in the Sun is playing at the Lyric Hammersmith until 2nd November before transferring to the Nottingham Playhouse from the 5th-16th November.
Photos by Ikin Yum