A RAISIN IN THE SUN—ALMOST FIFTY YEARS LATER. Over the weekend, we saw a stunning production of A RAISIN IN THE SUN at the Darien Arts Center—wonderful performances, wonderful direction. I saw the play in the Chicago area many years ago, and seeing it again brought additional power to the experience. Mary Jane was seeing it for the first time. We both marveled at what a great play it is and at how much was lost when Lorraine Hansberry died young. The play brought back memories, and provoked thoughts of how so many things have not changed (We saw the play in a white suburban enclave). The end of the play shows the Younger family preparing to move in to an all white suburb. I commented to Mary Jane that this constituted a problematic happy ending. It turns out that was an understatement. I have now read this Wikipedia article which tells about how, when Hansberry was a child, the Hansberry family bought a house in what Lorraine Hansberry called a “hellishly hostile white neighborhood.†They faced protracted litigation (their case involving restrictive racial covenants went to the United States Supreme Court in 1940 when Hansberry was ten). Hansberry’s mother carried a loaded pistol when guarding the family at night. Hansberry as a child faced “howling mobs†surrounding the house at night and “being spat at, cursed and pummeled in the daily trek to and from school.â€
Categories
Archives
Recent Comments
- Gary Nuetzel on THE OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE STARTS ITS 32ND SEASON. (COMMENT).
- Francesca on EATING PEAS WITH A KNIFE.
- avon wilsmore on CHEATING IN CHAMPIONSHIP BRIDGE.
- Anonymous on THE LANGUAGE WEIRDNESS INDEX.
- James Friscia on THE SECOND OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE.
- Ken Babcock on THE SECOND OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE.
- Lickity Splitfingers on THE SECOND OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE.
- Ken Babcock on THE OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE STARTS ITS 32ND SEASON. (COMMENT).
- David Quemere on THE OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE STARTS ITS 32ND SEASON. (COMMENT).
- Nicholas Schaefer on THE SECOND OLDEST FANTASY BASEBALL LEAGUE.
Meta
I justed wanted to let you know that you’ll be able to learn even more about Lorraine Hansberry’s fascinating and complicated life in the not TOO distant future. First, there are two biographies in the works. Plus, I’m producing a feature-length documentary about Hansberry’s life, art and times with a small team of people for public television. We don’t anticipate being finished with the documentary until the end of 2009. (We still have a lot of money to raise.) But one of the things we are going to explore in our documentary is how many people left the theatre after seeing A RAISIN IN THE SUN thinking that life for the Younger family was going to be easier than it would have been at that time and place. We’ve already interviewed Lorraine’s older sister who shared the story about the mob attack against them after they had moved into the white neighborhood. Their move, as you may know, was a planned tactic by a group of businesspeople and activists in the fight to end restrictive covenants in Chicago.