A Raisin in the Sun, written by the then twenty-nine-year-old Hansberry, was the "movin’ on up" morality play of the 1960s. Martin had mesmerized millions, and integration was seen as the stairway to heaven. Raisin had something for everyone, and for this reason it was the recipient of the prestigious New York Drama Critics Circle Award.
The place: a tenement flat in Southside, Chicago. The time: post—World War II. Lena Younger, the strong-willed matriarch, is the glue that holds together the Younger family. Walter Lee is her married, thirty-something son who, along with his wife and sister, lives in his mother’s apartment. He is short on meeting responsibilities but long on dreams. Beneatha (that’s right, Beneatha) is Waiter’s sister—an upwardly mobile college student who plans to attend medical school.
Mama Lena is due a check from her late husband’s insurance, and Waiter Lee is ready to invest it in a liquor store. The money represents his opportunity to assert his manhood. It will bring the jump start he needs to set his life right. Beneatha tells him that it’s "mama’s money to do with as she pleases," and that she doesn’t really expect any for her schooling. However, Mama wants to use her new money for a new beginning—in a new house, in a new neighborhood (white).
Walter cries, and Mama relents. She refrains from paying cash for the house and places a deposit instead, giving Waiter the difference to share equally between his investment and Beneatha’s college fund. Walter squanders the entire amount. Meanwhile, Mama receives a call from the neighborhood "welcome committee" hoping to dissuade the family from moving in.
While roundly criticized for being politically accommodating to whites, Raisin accurately reflected the aspirations of a newly nascent black middle class.
The film version of Hansberry's landmark play A Raisin in the Sun (1961) was the first depiction of African American life seen by mainstream America. Hansberry included in her screen version several scenes of the Younger family interacting with the white world to show their deprivation and the subtle forms of racism they encountered in their everyday lives. In typical Hollywood fashion most of those scenes were cut, which softened the drama's angry voice. This new edition of the uncut original was edited by Hansberry's ex-husband and literary executor Nemiroff, who made a lifelong commitment to seeing that Hansberry's talent was fully recognized. African American collections as well as film collections will find this script of interest.-- Marcia L. Perry, Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield, Mass.
Praise for A Raisin in the Sun
“One of the handful of great American plays—it belongs in the inner circle, along with Death of a Salesman, Long Day's Journey Into Night, and The Glass Menagerie.”—The Washington Post
“The play that changed American theater forever.”—Frank Rich, The New York Times
“A beautiful, lovable play. It is affectionately human, funny and touching....A work of theatrical magic in which the usual barrier between audience and stage disappears.”—John Chapman, New York News
“An honest, intelligible, and moving experience.”—Walter Kerr, New York Herald Tribune
“Miss Hansberry has etched her characters with understanding, and told her story with dramatic impact. She has a keen sense of humor, an ear for accurate speech and compassion for people.”—Robert Coleman, New York Mirror
“It is honest drama, catching up real people....It will make you proud of human beings.”—Frank Aston, New York World-Telegram & Sun
“A wonderfully emotional evening.”—John McClain, New York Journal American
