[NEohioPAL]Berko review: A RAISIN IN THE SUN (Beck)

[Roy Berko]

‘RAISIN IN THE SUN’ GETS CREDITABLE PRODUCTION AT BECK

Roy Berko

(Member, American Theatre Critics Association, Dance
Critics Association)

--THE TIMES NEWSPAPERS--

Lorain County Times--Westlaker Times--Lakewood News
Times--Olmsted-Fairview Times	


What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?

This segment of the poem A Dream Deferred by
Clevelander Langston Hughes is the underlying theme
for Lorraine Hansberry’s ‘A RAISIN IN THE SUN,’ now on
stage at the Beck Center for the Arts.

On March 11, 1959, ‘A RAISIN IN THE SUN’  opened on
Broadway.  The play had already negotiated a long and
troubled road just to find its way to the opening and
was filled with many firsts.  It was the first major
on-Broadway play by a Black female author.  It thrust
many of its rookie Broadway cast members into major
entertainment roles including Cleveland-born Ruby Dee,
and future superstars Sidney Poitier and Claudia
McNeil.

No one could foresee that the play's imminent triumph
would mirror the changing role of Blacks in this
country and the role the play’s themes would play in
African American culture in the years that followed. 

The New York Drama Critics Circle named the Hansberry
play the best American play of 1959 though this,
probably the most important African American
theatrical piece ever written, failed to receive
either a Pulitzer Prize or a Tony for Best Play. 

‘A RAISIN IN THE SUN’ relates the story of the
Youngers, a Southside Chicago family trying to survive
in cramped ghetto quarters. When Mama gets a $10,000
check from her husband's life insurance, they consider
moving to a house in a white suburb.  A suburb in
which the residents warn that they don’t want a Black
family as their neighbors.

A RAISIN IN THE SUN’ is clearly autobiographical. 
Chicago, where Hansberry was born in 1930, was
self-segregated along racial lines at the time.  As a
child, Hansberry's family became one of the first to
move into a white neighborhood.  When their neighbors
rebelled, both with threats of violence and legal
action, the Hansberrys defended themselves.  The case
went all the way to the US Supreme Court. 

Hansberry told her husband she wanted to write a
social drama about Blacks that was good art.  She
succeeded.  Instead of stereotyped characters that
would bear no resemblance to actual people, she held
up a mirror to the racial nature of this country.

The Beck Center’s production is fine, as far as it
goes.  The missing element is the extra quality that
would make the experience, as Hansberry intended,
“painfully realistic.”   It may be that the play,
itself, has lost some of its power due to the changes
that have taken place, at least in some areas of this
country.  But, more importantly there is an
inconsistency in the acting and pacing.

Having seen the original New York production, and
being swept up by its power, I feel that some of the
Margaret Ford Taylor directed production was
diminished because of the production’s languid pace,
its lack of consistent intensity.  This takes away
from the play’s mission.  

As for the performances, Connie Blair is fine as Mama,
the head of the household.  At times, however, she
loses her stiff back, her stubborn pride.  Sonia
Bishop is right on target as her daughter-in-law,
Ruth.  The scene in which she pleads for the family to
move, to develop their dignity, was extremely
effective.  

Michael May as the son is strongest in his rage
scenes, but not as effective in displaying his
frustration.  Evelyn Stewart lacked the consistent
depth of conviction as Beneatha, the daughter who is
in training to be a doctor.  

Young Anthony Nickerson is appealing as Walter and
Ruth’s son.  John Polk is on target as the
representative of the white homeowners who don’t want
the Youngers as neighbors.  Jason Samuel’s version of
one of Beneatha’s suitors consists of a bad accent
which oftten makes him impossible to understand and
distracting facial expressions, while Jonathan Wray as
George, the other suitor, feigns character
development. 

Don McBride’s scenic design adds to the era-correct
feeling of the play.

CAPSULE JUDGEMENT:  The strength of Beck’s ‘A RAISIN
IN THE SUN’ is Hansberry’s finely written script.  It
reflects an important slice of American history. 
Though the performances and pacing don’t always
develop the depth of the material, but the end result
is a very acceptable production.

‘A RAISIN THE SUN’ runs through February 27 at The
Beck Center for the Arts in Lakewood.  For ticket
information call 216-521-2540.


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Roy Berko's web page can be found at www.royberko.info.  His theatre and dance reviews appear on NeOHIOpal, an on-line source.   To subscribe to this free service via the World Wide Web, visit http://lists.fredsternfeld.com/mailman/listinfo/neohiopal.


	
		
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