A Raisin In The Sun

Headlong‘s revival of A Raisin In the Sun at Oxford Playhouse will stay with me for a long time to come thanks to its depth, rawness, emotive challenges, dilemmas, dichotomies, warmth, laughter, grief, anger, the list goes on and on.

‘beautifully written, the melodic dialogue accompanying Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 script, is still as pertinent and raw as it was then’

More than that, it is beautifully written, the melodic dialogue accompanying Lorraine Hansberry‘s 1959 script, still as pertinent and raw as it was then, tossing issues and realities into the air with startling regularity.

And while the cast needs to navigate their way through life’s pitfalls, it’s the audience that’s left with the aftermath to take home and carefully unpack.

Raisin In The Sun. Credit Ikin Yum

And what a cast it is, the quality of acting quite extraordinary. For those of you who haven’t come across A Raisin In The Sun, it’s an American classic from the same era as Arthur Miller, which has been langouring unloved in the UK until Headlong director Tinuke Craig decided to not only revive it but nurture and polish it until it shines.

‘And what a cast it is, the quality of acting quite extraordinary’

Whipping along at a cracking pace we meet the Younger family in their rented apartment in Chicago awaiting the recently departed patriach’s life insurance cheque. Life is hard. Poorly paid jobs, cramped multi-generational accommodation, a breadline existence, a dissolving marriage, all play out.

Cash Holland, Doreene Blackstock and Adiel Magaji – credit Ikin Yum

But there is light at the end of the tunnel. Money, freedom, possibilities. The chance for a better life in all its incarnations. Walter Lee (Solomon Israel) READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH HIM HERE wants to start a new business, a liquor store with two friends, his wife Ruth (Cash Holland) wants a home of their own, Walter’s sister Beneatha (Josephine-Fransilja Brookman) needs funds for medical school.

But there is only one pot of money, and Lena (Doreene Blackstock) is in charge, the cheque is addressed to her, and what she says goes. And so the fights, ideas, dreams and obsequiousness begin.

Doreene Blackstock – credit Ikin Yum

There’s no getting away from the racial inequalities that we live vicariously through in terms of jobs, prospects and a glass ceiling held in place by ‘decent’ white Americans fearful for their Aryan existence. But there is also discrimination within the black American community themselves, one of the most excruciating moments being when Beneatha’s rich boyfriend George comes round to take her out on a date and uses his handkerchief to pull out the chairs and turn the doorknobs in their apartment.

Despite A Raisin In the Sun‘s simple set and tight knit cast, you could have heard a pin drop in the second half, the audience sat in utter suspense as the fate of the Younger family unfolds.

The cast of A Raisin in the Sun – credit Ikin Yum

But regardless of the plot, it’s the magic of Lorraine Hansberry’s script that carries you through – her pertinent view on the world and all its fallibilities continually at play. And unlike Arthur Miller’s works which soar too close to the American dream to emerge unscathed, Hansberry leaves you with hope and faith in humanity – alongside a belief that love, trust and decency will prevail.

‘A perfectly observed, visceral drama about family life that will leave you questioning the world more than ever’

Joséphine-Fransilja Brookman – credit Ikin Yum

A perfectly observed, visceral drama about family life that will leave you with more questions about the world than ever and a real coup for Oxford Playhouse, because A Raisin In the Sun is simply unforgettable.

A Raisin In The Sun, (a Headlong, Leeds Playhouse, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and Nottingham Playhouse production), is at Oxford Playhouse until Saturday October 5. Book here: https://www.oxfordplayhouse.com/events/a-raisin-in-the-sun