Set in 1959 Chicago, this play focuses on the Youngers, an African American working-class family, including Lena (aka Mama), her grown children, Beneatha and Walter, Walter's wife, Ruth, and son, Travis. They are about to inherit a life-changing sum of money. They disagree about what to do with it. Lena wants to buy a house. Walter wants to invest it in a business venture. Beneatha wants to further her dream to become a doctor. As the play unfolds, it examines the impact of racial prejudice on the family’s opportunities and ambitions.

I am impressed by the author’s ability to write a short play that encompasses so many issues that occurred when the Civil Rights movement was gaining momentum and racial segregation was still the norm. This play was first performed on Broadway in 1959, the first written by a Black woman. A recording (audiobook) exists, which I listened to and highly recommend. I think it is more powerful to hear or see the play rather than solely to read it. The climax of the play is truly powerful.

I remembered the fantastic 1961. adaptation of A raisin in the sun and figured I should read the play. Boy oh boy, was it great! Hansberry deals with complex issues such as race, class, gender and the generation gap in powerful ways, with the leitmotif being dreams. Every member of the Younger family has dreams of their own and all of them are banking on the late husband's/father's insurance money to realize those dreams. But just like it's bound to happen, not all dreams come true, at least not all at once. All of the adult family members have to come ot terms with reality and an uncertain future.

The Youngers' family dynamic is complex and interesting; it's exacerbated by their cramped living conditions. Their conversations and arguments are so natural and flesh out the characters beautifully. I could see the point of view of each character, though I have to say, I empathized the most with Beneatha. She is ambitious enough to want to become a doctor and her opinions are very unconventional for the time - both of which earn her a lot of criticism. Beneatha's torn in two directions in terms of her identity, which is symbolized in her two suitors. While her family favors the rich George Murchison, Beneatha is more drawn to the Nigerian Joseph Asagai, who shares his culture with Beneatha. Her situation is the most uncertain out of all the characters in the play, and I liked that ambiguity.
All in all, this is an amazing and powerful play.

I’m deeply ashamed that I’ve only recently learned about this award-winning play while browsing lists of the best African-American literature.

My library had a copy, and I started reading as soon as I got home.

While this was a very quick read, there are so many universal themes. Anyone who has been an outsider, has experienced prejudice, or struggled with financial hardship will be able to relate. The family interactions and problems were realistic and no different than those faced by modern families.

The 1989 TV adaptation can be found here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzfgw...

The library also has Lorraine Hansberry’s To Be Young, Gifted, and Black: An Informal Autobiography, which I hope to read soon.

An absolute favorite. Captivating with so much heart. Hansberry was a genius.

There are many things I liked about this play, most notably the theme and the emotion behind it. When a work of literature moves your heart, you know it is doing its job well. I would describe “Raisin in the sun” as a memorable and powerful play. The writing isn't particularly poetical, but it feels quite authentic. The setting and the characters are well developed and convincing. Despite the fact that it has some flaws and that the ending might feel a bit sudden, I think it is, on overall, quite a successful play.

I think Hansberry was successful in creating the atmosphere and the setting, although she does not use much description as such. Yes, plays don't really have descriptions in a sense that a novel does, but what I mean to say is that she "shows" rather than "tells", i.e she is a fine dramatist. For instance you get the idea about characters from dialogues; there are no long monologues (that would be really out of place in this kind of play). It's a play that is set in a specific time and place, so it was important to recreate this- she did. In that sense there is a really natural feeling to the play. That is one of the things I liked the most. You are more likely to believe in the characters and feel for them if they feel authentic.

The dialogues in this play were really enjoyable to read. They were well written, that's for sure. In general, the conversation in the play sounded very natural. The characters for most part were well developed. Female characters were more convincing than males ones but that often happens with female writers. Women often -not always, but often- create convincing female characters and vice versa.

What bothered me a little bit was that I felt some of things that happen in the play were quite unrealistic, especially in the area of character development. Nevertheless, it is one of my favourite plays. It addresses important issues and its message is candid and important. It was a play in which I really sympathized with the characters- in particular with the female ones. For instance I just loved Mama( the matriarch of the family). She is the kind of character that just warms my heart. After reading it, I felt more hopeful, encouraged- something like that- and that's a good feeling to experience. Therefore, I feel that I can really recommend this play.

I didn’t mean to complete this so quickly

Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun is very deservedly considered a timeless classic. Unlike many other works from around the same era, Hansberry provokes and moves her audience without writing of complete devastation. To explain how her style and choices are different than her contemporaries, is to give away the ending. The denouement of A Raisin in the Sun is like no other of its genre. This is what makes it a classic. It is timeless because of Hansberry's presentation of the familial interaction of the characters. To say these relationships are very realistic is an understatement. The characters' interaction shows that no one can lift you up, tear you down, pleasantly surprise you, disappoint you, make you laugh, make you cry, truly love you, or truly hurt you quite as powerfully as your family can. And each character is easy to love and easy to find fault in and easy to forgive for their faults and love all over again. The story is powerful, moving, and funny quite often. And it is a rather important and unique accolade for Hansberry that A Raisin in the Sun opened the doors to black artists in the world of theatre wider than anything that came before it.

After reading Raisin again, after seeing the Sidney Poitier movie again, after discussing it on the Close Reads podcast, I've decided to go on a crusade. My crusade: Raisin in the Sun is the best play of the 20th century. There. I said it.

What play matches Raisin for power, language, character, and plot construction? I'm a playwright, actor, and director. I've read many, many plays and I can't think of a better play! For sure, Lorraine Hansberry's play gets plenty of academic attention. But I fear that the academy confines it's esteem as a play about the black experience in America.

To be sure, A Raisin in the Sun is a play about the black experience in America. But it's message is broader. It's about one family; it's about all families. It's about one life on the margins; it's about all life on the margins. It's about the dignity of Walter, Ruth, and Beneatha; it's about the dignity of human beings.

Don't take my word for it. See the 1961 movie. Read it. Attend a local performance. Join the crusade.

3.5*

While some aspects of this play are dated (it was written and first performed in the 1950s), the characters and their relationships still ring true. I have seen the film version with Sidney Poitier a few times and this is one play where the movie is better than the text. I did find the stage directions describing the setting informative and I am glad that I read this but I do feel that I didn't gain much by reading it after having seen the film. That is often the case with plays which are of course meant to be seen rather than read!

Though short, this packs in a lot of themes: family dynamics, tension in marriage, forgiveness, poverty, racism, classism, passing on morals to the next generation, the responsibility of a father, the definition of manhood, the inherent worth in a job. It's about racism yes, but also about values and principles.

In similar sphere as Black Boy and Native Son

A famous play from 1959 showing the struggles and dreams of the different members of the African American Younger family (mother, adult son and daughter, daughter-in-law and grandchild) living in a small apartment in the South Side of Chicago, but dreaming of using an insurance payment to buy into a "White neighborhood”. A Nigerian man, Agasai, is a friend of the adult daughter and serves to point up the cultural gulf between 20th-century Black Americans and Africans despite their genetic links.

The author, Lorraine Hansberry, inspired the song 'Young, Gifted and Black' but suffered from cancer and died in her thirties.

This was so good, and I'm very glad I read it. So subtle and skillfully put together. To think about this woman dying at 34, and how many more great pieces of art she could have created. This is why I like to do Read Harder every year, because I probably wouldn't have gotten around to this without it.

This is a three act play that follows the Youngers, a black family living on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s. Mom Lena, son Walter and his wife Ruth and son Travis, and daughter Beneatha all live in the same small apartment. Lena's husband has just died, leaving them a $10k life insurance check. The money becomes a catalyst for the events of the rest of the play.

Hansberry was such a talented writer, you know exactly who these characters are within three pages. The dialogue and stage directions are full of this subtle characterization. The play examines not only the family dynamic, but social and racial dynamics as well, through the story of the Younger family and their desires to have safety, a roof over their heads, for money, for respect, and
to have a better life, though what each person defines that as is different. The racial and social critiques present here sadly remain almost as relevant as they did back when Hansberry wrote this in the 1950s.

If you've somehow missed out on this like I had, highly recommend.

Read Harder Challenge 2020: Read a play by an author of color and/or queer author.