“A Raisin in the Sun" at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre -- July 15 through 24.
Friday, July 15, through Sunday, July 24
Playcrafters Barn Theatre, 4950 35th Avenue, Moline IL
A dramatic classic and iconic family saga that, in recent years, publications such as The Independent and Time Out have listed it among the best plays ever written, Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun receives a Playcrafters Barn Theatre staging July 15 through 24, this moving 1959 drama the inspiration for a film classic starring Sidney Poitier and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Clybourne Park.
Set on Chicago’s South Side, A Raisin in the Sun revolves around the divergent dreams and conflicts within the Younger family. When her deceased husband’s insurance money comes through, Mama Lena dreams of moving to a new home and a better neighborhood in Chicago, while her son Walter Lee, a chauffeur, yearns to buy a liquor store and be his own man, and his sister Beneatha wants to go to medical school. The stakes climb as questions about identity, class, value, race, and love become forefront issues, and outsiders make it impossible to forget the world that the Younger family cannot seem to escape. This family’s heroic struggle to retain dignity in a harsh and changing world is a searing and timeless document of hope and inspiration, and the play's two most recent Broadway revivals netted Hansberry's groundbreaking work a collective five Tony Awards.
Serving as A Raisin in the Sun's director is Gaye Shannon Burnett, who previously helmed 2019's Marie & Rosetta for the Moline venue. Portraying Mama Lena is venue veteran Teresa Moore, who directed this past February's The Odd Couple and co-starred in Marie & Rosetta and Neil Simon's Proposals, with Walter Lee played by The Piano Lesson castmate Ashley Harris and Beneatha by Playcrafters newcomer Raja Mims. Additional members of Burnett's gifted ensemble include Anthony Mitchell, Nichole Collins Payney, DeMario Rankin, Bralan Reynolds, Luann Sick, and Chris Zayner, with the creative team boasting stage manager Marquita Reynolds, producer Phil Cathoir, production manager Randy Moore, backstage crew member Amari Harris, and poster designer Katie Newport.
A Raisin in the Sun will be staged in Moline July 15 through 24, with performances on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Admission is $13-15, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)762-0330 and visiting Playcrafters.com.
