A Raisin in the Sun – Still Resonates

First produced in 1957, A Raisin in the Sun introduces us to the African American Younger family crammed into a South Side Chicago tenement apartment, bathroom down the hall. The bitter Walter Lee Younger (Francois Battiste) is a chauffeur who drinks, fantasizing about being his own boss. His wife Ruth (Mandi Masden), bad tempered from the get-go, has reached a stress point dealing with bills and emotional issues. She and Walter have grown apart. She’s frustrated, but hasn’t given up. They have an oddly innocent ten year old son named Travis (Camden McKinnon who is much too self conscious).

Tonya Pinkins (Lena)

Walter’s widowed mother Lena (a solid Tonya Pinkins) remains the matriarch, emasculating her son. It’s her home in which they all live, often seemingly on sufferance. Walter’s sister Beneatha (Paige Gilbert) aspires to medical school, though how they’re going to manage it economically is a quandary. The most politically savvy of the family, she has altruistic intentions. Rich, nice-boy, assimilated suitor George (Mister Fitzgerald) seems increasingly dull and eventually compromised compared to polished Nigerian, Joseph Asagai (John Clay III), who shares her humanitarian values.

Multiple, relevant themes are organically woven into the fabric of a plot that revolves around the end use of Walter Lee Senior’s insurance money. Lee Jr. and his mother go head to head. Will he finally have funds to start a business or do the Youngers upgrade living accommodations? That Lena has naively chosen a house in an all White community raises the specters of racial assimilation and self-sabotage. Power shifts within the family reflect broader social politics. Pride and heritage erupt.

Francois Battiste (Walter Lee), Tonya Pinkins (Lena), Mandi Masden (Ruth)

Playwright Lorraine Hansberry’s father was a mix of slum landlord who cut up apartments, growing rich with additional rents, and a crusader for racial equality. The latter might suggest a charitable view of the former, but who knows? Like the Youngers, he moved his family to a White neighborhood suffering discrimination that went to court. Hansberry grew up with a front row seat. Nothing about this story seems false or exaggerated. Its issues are not only universal but, alas, too often present 65 years later. Notably, hers was the first play by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway.

Francois Battiste slurs vernacular so much early on it’s difficult to understand him. Fortunately, this eases and the actor comes through as angry, frequently inebriated Walter Younger, Jr. A wrenching turnabout is well manifest, physical acting particularly fine.   

John Clay III (Joseph Asagai) and Paige Gilbert (Beneatha)

As Beneatha, Paige Gilbert imbues credible, complex personality to the most interesting female character Hansberry has written.

John Clay III is a standout as Beneatha’s swain Joseph Asagai. From accent to patrician bearing and graceful patience, he brings the outsider alive.               

Director Robert O’Hara (Slave Play) generally tries to upset status quo. Here, the extraneous ghost of Walter Lee Senior( Calvin Dutton) passes through. At one point, O’Hara utilizes amplified, recorded voices for a bedroom conversation. The technique belongs in another kind of play. Actors frequently talk over one another. Though this sets the tenor of volatile relationships, we miss considerable dialogue and character definition.

Mandi Masden (Ruth); Francois Battiste (walter Lee Younger)

The director literally spotlights (with drum roll) Walter Lee’s tirade about African Americans forced to humiliate themselves in White society, dropping the fourth wall to accuse the audience – “Yes, I’m talking to you!”- instead of, as is traditional, railing to the family. “I’m gonna put on a show for the man…” he declares wielding a copy of the Raison in the Sun Playbill. It’s a forced change in perspective with the attitude that the script is inadequate and jerks us out of the play. Additionally, visual epilogue meant to shock certainly does so, but again, unnecessarily. O’Hara spoonfeeds his audience. The message: In case you didn’t get it, THIS is what I’m trying to say.

Clint Ramos’ set is aptly worn/in disrepair. Using hanging cloth to separate rooms is, I think original here, indicating the family has exigently subdivided. Furniture is old but has character, probably having come from Lena’s house. When the door opens, however, we curiously see a glimpse of what looks like outdoors not a hallway to the bathroom.

Karen Perry’s costumes seem just right for character, period, and economic level. Nikiya Mathis hair and wig design is so seamless I didn’t suspect it.

Photos by Joan Marcus

A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
Directed by Robert O’Hara

Through November 13, 2022
The Public Theater 
425 Lafayette Street