A Raisin in the Sun, Hotchkiss Dramatic Association’s winter production, opened on Friday, February 23 for a weekend-long run.
The play was written by Lorraine Hansberry in 1957. When it debuted on Broadway in 1959, it was the first Broadway play written and produced by a Black woman. The production explores the impact of racism on a Black family chasing the American Dream.
The production marked the first time that a mainstage production has been directed by students. Danielle Attoh ’25 and Emilie Clitus ’24 co-directed.
The story takes place in the 1950s in a run-down, two-bedroom apartment on Chicago’s South Side owned by Lena Younger (played by Ms. Sienna Brann, instructor in theater), the mother of two children, Walter Lee Younger (Isaiah Stephens ’25) and Beneatha Younger (Armani Frazier ’24).
After the death of Lena’s husband, the working-class family receives an insurance check for $10,000. This sum, however, is not enough to fulfill each family member’s dreams.
As Lena, Beneatha, Walter, and his wife Ruth (Kristian Maxwell-Wimberly ’25) struggle to decide what to do with the money, Lena puts a down payment on a new house for the family and gives part of the money to Walter for his entrepreneurship ambitions. The family eventually loses that sum to Walter Lee’s friend, who runs away with the money.
The family members fulfill their dream to move out of their apartment; however, their new house is located in the all-white neighborhood of Clybourne Park. As Karl Linder (Steven Hicks ’26), a representative of the Clybourne Park Improvement Association, attempts to bribe the family not to move Clybourne Park, Walter takes a stand and asserts his dignity by refusing to accept.
Zinny Ugbala ’27 said, “The main message I took away is that money isn’t everything; it’s the morals you set for yourself that matter.” Arielle Sibley-Grice ‘26 said, “A Raisin in the Sun inspires us to focus on the core of our dreams.”
The play dramatizes the struggles of Black people in the Civil Rights era. Clitus said, “Directing something like this brings life into an older play. It helps people remember that this is not a past struggle, and issues explored by the play still persist.”
The play was presented in the Black Box, with audience members seated on either side of set. The set was designed to fully immerse the audience in the feeling of being present in the family’s apartment; it included a working stove, on which Ruth cooked scrambled eggs, and a working faucet.
The intimacy of the space was heightened by the set designers’ decision to replace the dark walls of the Black Box with brightly painted walls complete with crown moldings. This meant that audience members appeared to be seated inside the Youngers’ apartment, not outside looking in at the characters.
Mr. Derek Brashears, director of theatre, said, “We tried everything to make the audience feel they were in the apartment with the family just like flies on the wall.”
Audience member Edith Chemutai ’24 said, “We were on the same level with the characters. The setting made the characters seem more real and vulnerable.”
