Wayne State University & Wright Museum to Offer Staged Reading of A RAISIN IN THE SUN, 1/24

Wayne State University's Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance will present a staged reading Lorraine Hansberry's play, A Raisin in the Sun, at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History. The readings take place at 2 p.m. and again at 7 p.m. on Saturday, January 24, 2014 and is free and open to the public. The staged reading is being presented to celebrate the contributions of African-American artists to the stage.

A Raisin in the Sun premiered on Broadway in 1959. The play, written by a female African American and features African Amercian actors in all but one minor role, and was also directed by the first African American director on Broadway, Lloyd Richards, was considered be very risky and tool the producer over four years to raise the funds. Despite opening to mixed reviews the production became a four time Tony nominee in the categories of Best Play, Best Actor in a Play, Best Actress in a Play, and Best Director. Since 1959 A Raisin in the Sun has been revived on Broadway two separate times, 2004 and 2014, and has featured actors of notoriety such as Sean Combs, Audra McDonald, Phylicia Rashad, Denzel Washington, and Sophie Okonedo.

Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is one of the first realistic portraits of African-American life in a timeless representation of hope and inspiration. Concerning the struggle of conflicting dreams within three generations of the Younger family that is slowly falling apart in a small apartment, their fortune turns around when Mama purchases a house in the all-white neighborhood of Clybourne Park. The Younger family must come to terms with the racial tension and prejudice that come with their new home.

The Bonstelle Theatre is not a new home for A Raisin in the Sun in Detroit. The Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance has previously mounted two productions of the play, one in 1979 and one in 1993, of the title. The 1993 production featured current star of the CW's television show Arrow and also featured on CBS's television show Blue Bloods, David Ramsey, a 1993 graduate.

Continuing the celebration the contributions of African-American artists, the Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance will also be producing Fences by August Wilson. Fences began the collaboration between the Maggie Allesee Department of Theatre and Dance and Charles H. Wright Museum.

The Tony Award-winning classic follows an African American father and son as they struggle through unfulfilled hopes and shattered dreams during the American civil-rights era. The sixth in Wilson's ten-part Pittsburgh Cycle, exploring the evolving African American experience and race relations in America, Fences focuses on Troy, a hard-working man torn from his shattered dreams of becoming a pro baseball player, as he attempts to provide for his family.

Fences will play at the Bonstelle Theatre February 13th - 22nd.