"A Raisin in the Sun" at The Lewis and Shirley White Theatre at the Jewish Community Center

“A Raisin in the Sun” takes its title from a Langston Hughes poem entitled “Harlem,” which poses the question “What happens to a dream deferred?”  Staged in 1959, Louise Hansberry’s play explores how The American Dream has been deferred for any entire segment of the population, embodied by the multi-generational Younger family.  The audience follows the family’s internal and external struggles as they attempt to improve their financial circumstances with an insurance pay-out following the death of the family patriarch.

This heartfelt drama deals with issues that are still relevant today, such as housing discrimination, assimilation, generational divides, and racism. “Raisin in the Sun” won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award for Best Play with Hansberry the youngest American and first African American playwright to win the award. The Tony and Pulitzer Prize winning play was later adapted for the screen starring Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Louis Gossett Jr. and Claudia McNeill, who also originated their roles on Broadway.