A RAISIN IN THE SUN at Celebration Arts

A classic stage drama considered to have “changed American theater forever” and the first play written by a Black woman produced on Broadway in 1959, A Raisin In The Sun tells the story of a lower-class black family’s struggle to gain middle-class acceptance.

When the play opens, Mama, the sixty-year-old matriarch, waits for a $10,000 insurance check from her husband’s death, and the drama focuses primarily on how the $10,000 should be spent.

In 1960 A Raisin In The Sun was nominated for four Tony Awards, including Best Play (Lorraine Hansberry), Best Actor (Sidney Poitier), Best Actress (Claudia McNeil), and Best Direction Lloyd Richards).