‘Raisin in the Sun’ at 6th Street Playhouse traces Black family’s struggles

“A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry remains famous as the first play written by a Black woman to open on Broadway — but there’s more to the story.

It also is a great American classic that deals not only with race, but generational conflict, women’s roles, family strife and economic inequality. Critics have ranked it with such great American works as Arthur Miller’s “Death of a Salesman,” Eugene O'Neill's “Long Day's Journey Into Night” and Tennessee Williams’ “Glass Menagerie.”

“The play is set in 1959 but it has themes in it that resound in the present day,” said Leontyne Mbele-Mbong of Oakland, who directed the new production of the play opening March 2 at Santa Rosa’s 6th Street Playhouse. The play has been in rehearsal during February, which is Black History Month.

“The author gives us a prescient look at what was to come, but there are no soapbox speeches about gaining civil rights,” Mbele-Mbong said. “It’s really about the personal desire to advance. It’s about people going about their lives and trying gain something they want.”

At the center of the play is Mama, a recently widowed black woman who hopes to use her late husband’s insurance money to buy a nicer home in a white neighborhood. Her son Walter wants to invest money with friends in a liquor store business but Mama disapproves of the use of alcohol.

“Hopefully, the play will evoke some kind of conversation as people walk out the door after the show,” said Sacramento actress KT Masala, who plays Mama in the 6th Street production.

Longtime 6th Playhouse mainstay Jeff Cote appears as the play’s only white character, a representative of the neighborhood Mama’s family plans to move to, who makes an offer to buy them out.

Two of the play’s most interesting supporting characters are male friends of Mama’s daughter Beneatha -- one who denies his African heritage and the other a student from Nigeria.

“This was the first African intellectual presented onstage,” Mbele-Mbong said. “Nigeria was talking about independence. There’s something hopeful here about the possibility of a society opening up.”

While racial tensions obviously persist in the present day, the overt prejudice that Mama’s family faces has diminished, she added.

“All of these things are underwater now, and have seeped into the groundwater of our system,” the director said.

Hansberry wrote this Pulitzer Prize-winning play, her first, at age 27. She was the first Black playwright to receive both the Drama Desk Award and the Critics’ Circle award for Best Play. She died at age 34. Her play, by contrast, has enjoyed a long life, both onstage and on the screen.

In 1961, a film version of “A Raisin in the Sun” was released, featuring its original Broadway cast: Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, Ivan Dixon, Louis Gossett Jr. and John Fiedler. Hansberry wrote the screenplay

A musical version of the play, “Raisin,” ran on Broadway from October 1973 to December 1975. The show won the Tony Award for Best musical.

In 1989, the play was adapted into a TV film for PBS's American Playhouse series, starring Danny Glover and Esther Rolle. In 1996, the BBC broadcast a production of the play.

Most recently, a revival ran on Broadway at the Royale Theatre in 2004.

“This is a rare opportunity to see this play. It’s not often produced,” said Jared Sakren, artistic director at the 6th Street Playhouse, who is acting as producer for the new run of “A Raisin in the Sun.”

The play was presented locally in 2015 at the Santa Rosa Junior College as part of the Summer Repertory Theatre season.

“It’s not an easy play to do,” said Masala, who plays Mama in the 6th Street production and played the same role in Sacramento six years ago.

“Each time, you learn something new. Mama is more of a quiet storm this time than when I played her before. Her anger is more within her than on display,” she said.

“The beauty of this play is that it is relatable on so many levels,” Masala said. “People can see themselves in it, even if the characters are a different color.”

You can reach Staff Writer Dan Taylor at dan.taylor@pressdemocrat.com or 707-521-5243. On Twitter @danarts.