Lorraine Hansberry News

The 'play that changed American theater forever' (New York Times) comes to Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater for the first time ever this spring. Due to popular demand, the production has been extended for one week with eight additional performances, running now through May 7, 2017 in the Fichandler Stage. BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening night festivities below!

Definition Theatre Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Tyrone Phillips and Managing Director Neel McNeill, announces the first play of its 2017-2018 season, the Chicago premiere of An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Gloria, Appropriate), produced in association with Goodman Theatre. An Octoroon is directed by Goodman Theatre Resident Director Chuck Smith and runs July 21 - August 20, 2017 in the Richard Christiansen Theater at Victory Gardens Theater as part of Definition's tenure in the Victory Gardens Resident Theater Program.

New Repertory Theatre presents The Gift Horse, April 22-May 14, 2017 in the MainStage Theater at the Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA.

tells the story of an ordinary family struggling to live an ordinary life during difficult times

The award-winning Astoria Performing Arts Center (APAC) will present a limited engagement of the critically acclaimed musical Raisin this Spring. Winner of the 1974 Tony Award for Best Musical and based on Lorraine Hansberry's groundbreaking play, this timeless musical will return to New York City after a 42-year hiatus, May 4 - 27, 2017, at Good Shepherd United Methodist Church, 30-44 Crescent St (at 30th Road), Astoria, NY 11102.

Ebony Repertory Theatre announced today the full casting and the creative team of FIVE GUYS NAMED MOE. Acclaimed veteran actor Reginald VelJohnson (ABC/CBS's Family Matters, Die Hard, Die Hard 2) will co-star as 'Big Moe' with the previously announced Emmy Award-winner Obba Babbatunde (Dreamgirls - Tony Award nomination, Broadway's Chicago, CBS's The Bold and the Beautiful) as 'Nomax.'

Artistic Director Tony Prince and Producing Director Richard McGrew are excited to announce the 2017-2018 season of The Liminal Playhouse.

Arena Stage at the Mead Center for American Theater will present the American Voice Award to Congressman G. K. Butterfield (D-NC) on Thursday, April 6, 2017 as part of the opening night celebration for Lorraine Hansberry's groundbreaking drama A Raisin in the Sun.

What if your house's walls really could talk? Would you want your friends and neighbors to hear what your home has to say? Threshold Stage Company's Seacoast Premiere of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize and 2012 Tony Award winning play 'Clybourne Park' by Bruce Norris, gives center stage to one such home as it hysterically shares the stories of two couples, separated by fifty years' time, attempting to buy and sell the house while navigating a politically correct mine field of societal inclusion and exclusion along the way.

Two River Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Dias and Managing Director Michael Hurst, announces the lineup of productions for its 2017/18 Season.

The Global Theater Initiative (GTI), a partnership between Theatre Communications Group (TCG) and the Laboratory for Performance and Politics (The Lab) at Georgetown University, invites all theatres, individual artists, institutions, and audiences to celebrate the 55th annual World Theatre Day today, March 27, 2017.

Jackie Welch, Tamiko Robinson Steele and Lauren Frances Jones together onstage are like the royalty of Nashville theater: three formidable actresses who bring a wealth of experience to any role they play as individuals. Yet, collectively, the three women are more than mere forces of nature, they are nature itself, their remarkable talents combining to create a theatrical experience that will long be remembered, venerated and discussed among those people fortunate enough to see them in Nashville Repertory Theatre's stunning production of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun.

Centaur Theatre presents the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Clybourne Park, written by American playwright, Bruce Norris, from April 4 to 30, 2017.

Theatre Charlotte's vivid new staging of A RAISIN IN THE SUN reminds us that Lorraine Hansberry's drama was written to show us all the things, good and bad, that can happen to 'a dream deferred.'

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company's mainstage season continues with the American classic A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry. The production, running March 24 - April 15, 2017, is directed by Christopher V. Edwards and features Geoffrey Warren Barnes II, Burgess Byrd, and Torie Wiggins in the leading roles. The production is generously sponsored by Johnson Investment Council and Thompson Hine LLP.

Daniel DeVault's taut, focused direction and consistent performances from his ensemble of actors are the hallmarks of Circle Players' latest show in their 2016-17 season - Bruce Norris' Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-winning Clybourne Park - now onstage, appropriately and significantly at the Z. Alexander Looby Theatre, named for one of Nashville's most venerated civil rights leaders through April 2.

Nashville Repertory Theatre's production of A Raisin in the Sun, starring retired Tennessee Titan Eddie George, will now run through Saturday, April 22.

Kansas City Repertory Theatre continues its 2016-2017 season with the American theatre classic, A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorraine Hansberry and directed by Kansas City Repertory Theatre's Assistant Artistic Director Chip Miller and Marissa Wolf, Director of New Works.

Today, three members of director Daniel DeVault's cast - Chandra J. Walton, M. Caroline Prince and Ethan Treutle - offer some insight into their creative process in Friday 5 (+1): Clybourne Park.

Praise for Author and Educator Umm Juwayriyah: 'A couple paragraphs into the first chapter the author had me.' - Brooke Benoit, SISTERS MAGAZINE 'It's real, the characters seem so real, like real Muslims.' - Thomas Abdullah, Host of American Muslim 360 'Umm J weaves so many things relevant to Muslims into her stories: charity, fasting, prayer, kindness, and reversion. Cultures and personalities conflict in the melting pot that is Muslim America, and the author deals with these clashes sweetly and gracefully.' - Deborah McNichol, Author and Editor for Muslim Writers Publishing From bestselling educator and author, Umm Juwayriyah (Maryam A. Sullivan), comes a new urban Muslim novel about one American Muslim woman's personal journey through abuse, addiction, family discord, and finding the courage to renew her faith in the Most High, Most Merciful. A teenage Iman Johnson left home over a decade ago to follow behind a street loving hustler who promised her the world. When that world became too much for her to endure, mentally and physically, she found herself back in Pittsburgh, PA at her Muslim mother's doorstep seeking refuge. But will the Muslim family and community that she'd turned her back on years ago be ready to finally accept her or has too much time, emotions, hurt, and secrets built up between them to overcome? Iman will have to find the strength to face her past and relearn the basics if she ever hopes to find the sweetness of faith The Most High promises ... 'Tried & Tested' casts an intimate look into the lives of millions of indigenous Muslim American families and the hardships and blessings that binds them together against the odds. Umm Juwayriyah's unique voice and undeniable characters will not disappoint you. About the Author: Umm Juwayriyah (Maryam A.Sullivan) is a native of Springfield, Massachusetts and is a second generation American Muslim urban educator, business owner, and storyteller. She is the author of Tried & Tested, The Size of a Mustard Seed, Hind's Hands ~ A Story About Autism, and The Princess and the Good Deed. Umm Juwayriyah has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and was a recipient of the Lorraine Hansberry Award from Holyoke Community College and a Spirit Award from the Harold Grinspoon Foundation. Her writing and short stories have been featured in a number of Muslim and non Muslim publications around the world. She is also the Editor-in-Chief for the New England Muslim Women's Association and the founder of the literary initiative #MuslimGirlsRead. Umm Juwayriyah holds a Bachelors degree with honors from Bay Path University and a Masters of Arts degree with honors from Regis University.