Review: A RAISIN IN THE SUN at Guthrie Theater

"What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?" In 1951, poet Langston Hughes posed these questions, and Lorraine Hansberry answered with a theatrical masterpiece that broke down racial barriers both on and off the stage. The play follows the three-generation Younger family as they grapple with different definitions of the American dream and how to achieve it. When the matriarch, Lena, buys a home in an all-white neighborhood, the Youngers are greeted by thinly veiled racism and financial pitfalls that threaten to pull the family apart and push their dreams out of reach.

Inspired by Lorraine Hansberry's own family's experience in Chicago in the 1930s, A Raisin in the Sun opened on Broadway in 1959 and, for the first time, hailed an all-Black principal cast, a Black playwright and a Black director.

The play was nominated for four Tony Awards, and Hansberry was the first Black woman to be produced on Broadway.

Director Austene Van is an acclaimed Twin Cities theater professional, co-founder of New Dawn Theatre Company and Producing Artistic Director at Yellow Tree Theatre. She was last seen on the Guthrie stage playing Truvy in our 2019 production of Steel Magnolias.

A Raisin in the sun is a classic play that first played on Broadway in 1959.It was great to see the Guthrie put this production on. A Raisin in the Sun is about a black family James Alfred (Walter), who works as a limo driver and wants to become more wealthy and his wife, Anita Welch (Ruth) Younger and their son Joshaviah Kawala (Travis). Tonia Jackson (Lena), Walters mother and Nubia Monks (Beneatha) who is Walter's younger sister lives with them as well in a low income two bedroom apartment in South Chicago. All the members living in the two-bedroom apartment have hopes and dreams of wealth, relationships, and success.

The set, stage, and costumes were all set to fit the time period well and were effective especially when portraying the two-bed room apartment and the new home. The cast of talented actors all fit their parts well and had great chemistry with each other. There were so many serious moments in the show but to my surprise there were a lot of comedic moments that had me laughing as well.

I would recommend seeing A Raisin in the Sun at the Guthrie Theater.

For more ticket and show information, click here

Photos by Tom Wallace

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