A Raisin In The Sun

  Everyone in America, it seems, has dreams of being financially successful. Most find, however, that achieving one’s aspirations is not easy, especially if there are racial and economic forces working against it. Such is the overall theme of Lorraine Hansberry’s powerful drama A Raisin in the Sun, our most recent Center Stage production here at St. Charles Community College.            
Directed by SCCs Hal Berry, this play tells the story of an African-American family struggling to find their dreams in a small, rundown apartment in the south side of Chicago during the 1950s. Based on a poem by Langston Hughes, it illustrates how the hopes and aspirations of black Americans can be easily deferred and can eventually wither away like a raisin in the sun.

Director Berry has not been afraid of taking on issues of race and ethnicity in the past, having directed numerous other productions like To Kill a Mockingbird (racial injustice in the south), Give ‘em Hell, Harry (about Truman’s decision to integrate the armed forces), Black Elk Speaks (on the subjugation of Native Americans) and Playing For Time (which focuses on a group of Jewish musicians in a concentration camp). A Raisin in the Sun, however, is his most ambitious yet in portraying the struggles of a minority to break out of the confines of an oppressive system.
  The year is 1955 and we find in the play’s opening scenes that things are looking up for the Younger family. The matriarch of the clan Lena (or “Mama” as she is mostly called) is about to receive a $10,000 insurance check after the recent death of her husband. Living in the cramped apartment with her are her daughter, Beneatha, her son Walter Lee, his wife Ruth and their son, Travis. Each family member (except 7-year-old Travis) has their own dream about the future and how the unexpected windfall can help them achieve it.
  To Walter Lee, achieving the American dream is all about money. Excellently portrayed by Ethan Jones, Walter is tired of living in squalor and working as a chauffeur, a job that he finds demeaning and unable to supply him with the earnings he needs to provide for his family.
  Having seen a friend open a successful dry-cleaning business, Walter is eager to start an enterprise of his own. He hopes to invest in a liquor store with two friends and is sure he can convince his mother to give him the money for what he sees as his path out of poverty.

Walter tries to sell his dream to a skeptical wife.

  His wife Ruth (portrayed by Janai Humphrey) has a more complicated dream to pursue. We learn early on that there are strains in her relationship with Walter and she hates living in an apartment where her son must sleep on the living room couch. She longs for a more stable living situation but is unwilling to support Walter’s ambitions to own a liquor store. Her situation becomes more complicated when she discovers that she is pregnant and begins to have doubts about bringing another family member into their crowded living situation.

Mama comforts a tormented Ruth

  Younger sister Beneatha (played by Selena Steed, a talented Theater student here at SCC) represents the ambitions of youth and her dream of becoming a doctor seems like a fantasy to the rest of the family. Her youthful idealism and attempts at self-expression are the one bright spot in the family’s life but are mostly ignored by her materialistic brother.

  Finally, we learn that Mama’s dream of the future is entirely focused on home and family. Even though she and her husband always intended to buy a home of their own, they never made it out of the South Side apartment.

  She envisions a future where their family lives in their own house and her pride and joy Travis (played convincingly by Elijah Donovan Clark), has a yard of his own to play in instead of the city streets.

  She longs for a small garden of her own and symbolically, she has nurtured a struggling house plant through the years, keeping it next to the framed portrait of her late husband.

  When the check finally does arrive all of these conflicting goals come to a head. Walter’s hopes of entrepreneurial success are dashed when Mama tells him she will not give him the money for a business that sells liquor. Returning home later that day, she surprises the whole family by explaining that she has purchased a house, an announcement that pleases everyone except Walter. Their enthusiasm dims somewhat when they discover that the house is in the all-white community of Clybourne Park, a location Mama chose because of the lower price of the house.

  Although much of the story centers on Walter Lee and his struggles with his mother and wife, Beneatha’s relationship with two other characters forms a subtext which runs underneath the entire production. We find that she has two suitors and each one wants to steer her dreams in a totally opposite direction.

  The character of George Murchison (performed by Jordan Loefellman) represents the forces of assimilation and incrementalism. The snappishly-dressed and shallow George derides Beneatha for her interest in Africa and encourages her to forget about race and try to fit into the mainstream of America, which he seems to have done.

  This is contrasted by Joseph Asagai (Theo Lipsey), a Nigerian medical student who awakens in Beneatha a pride in her African heritage as well as a sense that she can accomplish whatever idealistic dream she pursues. He gives her some Nigerian clothing and music and accuses her of “mutilating” her hair by using the chemical straighteners so popular with assimilating blacks of the time. In the next scene, we see Beneatha with her hair cut to its natural nappiness as she dances to the tribal rhythms of her new records.

 The forces of racism are represented in the play by the only white character, Karl Lindner (Thomas Stanley). Appearing at the Younger home, he explains that he represents the homeowners association of Clybourne Park. With just the right amount of subtlety, Lindner at first appears to be seeking racial harmony but later reveals that he is willing to pay the Youngers NOT to move into their neighborhood to protect the dreams of the white residents in the community. Indignant, the Youngers throw him out but he leaves his card with them in case they change their mind.

  This scene reflects the real-life experiences of the playwright Lorraine Hansberry, whose father moved their family into one of the many all-white neighborhoods surrounding the city of Chicago. When neighbors struck at them with threats of violence and legal action, the Hansberrys defended themselves and Lorraine’s father successfully brought his case all the way to the Supreme Court.

  When Mama sees that her son has sunk into depression and has not been going to work, she realizes she must take some action to keep the family together. She explains to Walter Lee that she has only put $3500 down on the house. Handing him an envelope with $6000 in it, she asks him to put half of it an account to pay for Beneatha’s medical schooling and half into his own account to use as he sees fit. Walter’s dream seems back on track and his outlook improves greatly as he once again envisions a future where he stands tall as a successful head of his family. 
  The euphoria is short-lived, however, because the Youngers are visited by another character, Bobo (Gold Wise), who is one of Walter’s partners in the fledgling business venture. The distraught Bobo explains that the third partner, Willie, had stolen all of their money and disappeared.

  Walter Lee, crushed by the news, is forced to admit that he never even went to the bank and that Beneatha’s money was gone, as well. In one fell swoop, the dreams of everyone in the family seemed irretrievably lost.
  In the depths of their despair, the family seems to fall apart. Mama announces that they will not be moving and even the idealistic Beneatha expresses cynicism and denounces her flawed brother. Walter begins to think that their only salvation would be to accept Lindner’s offer and he arranges another meeting. As the papers are being drawn up, however, it becomes clear that Walter has begun to change his mind.

Walter Lee finally sees the right path for the family.

  Finally asserting his role as head of the household, he declares that they are turning down the offer. They have worked too hard, he tells Lindner, to let anyone tell them where they can and can’t live. Recognizing that his family is more important than money, the more mature Walter finally “comes into his manhood” as Mama announces.

As the play ends, we find resolution in many of the family’s issues but we are still left left with doubts. With the family working together, they decide that the move is back on and they leave for what is certainly to be a rocky start in their new home.

Joseph Asagai helps Beneatha see a positive future

  Although not explicitly stated, it seems clear that Beneatha will accept Joseph Asagai’s proposal of marriage and move to Nigeria to help with his medical work. Most importantly, Walter’s new-found appreciation of his family and his realization that material wealth is not the most important thing in life sets him on a path to tackle any problem in the future.

  When A Raisin in the Sun premiered in Chicago in 1959, it was considered a ground-breaking production with its subject matter including racism, sexism, assimilation, and greed. For the first time, white audiences were able to see a realistic depiction of a black family and how the forces of racial oppression could emasculate males and tear apart family bonds. Almost fifty years later, our college production does not quite play to the same shocked audience, but it remains relevant nonetheless.

  TV audiences in the 1950s watched another working class family living in a dingy flat struggle with daily life: The Honeymooners. Like Walter Lee, Ralph Cramden also drove other people around for a living and was always getting involved in questionable get-rich-quick schemes with his pal, Norton. Unlike A Raisin in the Sun, however, The Honeymooners was played strictly for laughs and never strayed into the dangerous topics covered in the play. In both cases, though, pretty much the entire production took place in one set, the apartment.

  Lonna Wilke’s set captured the flavor of 1950s life and the furniture, props and decorations seemed perfect for the play. I couldn’t help feel, however, that it could have looked a little dingier to add to the oppressive atmosphere described in the script. The Younger apartment had only one small window in the kitchen and is described as being somewhat dark. Here, the walls have been painted a bright orange which, although probably appropriate to the time period, seemed to make the set generally bright. Ralph Cramden’s apartment looked more drab.

  The multi-level set worked well, though. By having the action take place on two levels, the actors could take advantage of the extra height to add impact to their performance. Mama, for example, was reasonably short but for her most powerful lines she could speak from the upper level, forcing the other family members to look up to her, both figuratively and literally. Conversely, as Walter Lee receives the bad news of the theft, he prostrates himself on the lower level as family members look down on him from above.

Walter Lee sees his dream die.

  The costuming was realistic and quite appropriate to the times. The housedresses, aprons and clothing of Ruth and Mama used floral prints and dull coloring that seemed fitting. Walter’s clothes are also black, gray and brown, reflecting men’s clothing in the era of the “gray flannel suit.”

  The only real use of color went to Beneatha, whose African prints and bright pink outfits add additional color to every scene. The foppishly-dressed George Murchison, with black and white saddle shoes and

stylish suit caught the flavor of the upwardly-aspiring blacks of the time. 
   Except for some excessive eye make-up, Karl Lindner also seemed appropriate and his plaid jacket and bow tie firmly placed him in the “square” category.

  All in all, A Raisin in the Sun, was an excellent play that brought a tear to me eye as the Younger family embraces at the end and sets out for their uncertain future. As Mama picks up her house plant and walks out the door, we embrace her dream that her family will flourish just as she hopes her plant will.

Photos courtesy of Stevens Photography