RAISIN IN THE SUN Extends Run at Everyman Theatre Through 10/16

Everyman Theatre's production of A Raisin in the Sun is extending its run through October 16, 2011.

A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry's fiercely moving portrayal of an African American family struggling to realize the dream of a better life, opens Everyman Theatre's final season on Charles Street. This American classic first premiered on Broadway in 1959, and was hailed by critics as a watershed in American drama. The New York Times raved that it was "The play that changed American Theatre forever...!" Twenty-eight-year-old Lorraine Hansberry's debut work received four Tony nominations in addition to winning the New York Drama Critics Circle award for best American play of the season. Hansberry has been called a visionary for her anticipation of issues that range from generational clashes to the civil rights and women's rights movements. A Raisin in the Sun is the quintessential and unforgettable portrait of one family's quest for the American Dream.

Everyman Theatre Company Member, Dawn Ursula, will be playing Ruth Younger, fresh off her Helen Hayes award nominated performance in Woolly Mammoth's Clybourne Park (a pulitzer prize-winning new play which takes place before and after the events in A Raisin in the Sun). Renowned actress Lizan Mitchell, last seen as Aunt Esther in Everyman Theatre's production of August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean, returns to Baltimore to play the matriarch of the Younger family, Lena. The talented cast also features Eric Berryman (Asagai), Kyle Jackson (Bobo), Stephen PatRick Martin (Karl Linder), Calvin McCullough (George), Fatima Quander (Beneatha), and KenYatta Rogers (Walter Lee).

A Raisin in the Sun tells the story of an African-American family living on Chicago's south side in the 1950's. Recently widowed, Lena Younger receives a check from her husband's life insurance and plans to buy a home for her family, freeing them from the cramped tenement in which she, her two children, daughter-in-law, and grandson live. However, her son Walter has different plans for the money. As One Dream is fulfilled, another is deferred.

"A Raisin in the Sun pays tribute to the unlimited capacity of the human spirit," says Artistic Director Vincent Lancisi "It is a quintessential family drama that examines the hopes and dreams of different generations in their struggle to find a better home and life for their children. Lorraine Hansberry was the youngest American playwright to ever win the ‘Best American Play' award from the New York Drama Critics Circle. Ms. Hansberry died at the young age of 32. I can only imagine what she might have written had she lived a long, full life."

Everyman Theatre is a professional Equity theatre company with a resident ensemble of artists from the Baltimore/DC area dedicated to presenting high quality plays that are affordable and accessible to everyone.

For tickets call the Everyman Theatre Box Office at 410.752.2208 or online at www.everymantheatre.com