Theatre Columbus State presents A Raisin in the Sun

Lorraine Hansberry's groundbreaking 1959 drama A Raisin in the Sun opens Wednesday, February 27, on the Columbus State campus and continues with nightly performances and a matinee through Saturday, March 1, under the direction of James Kevin Mathis.

The drama concerns the dreams of a working-class family to move from the tenements into a white neighborhood during the 1950s. It was based on a legal battle that Hansberry's family fought in the 1930s against segregation in Chicago. She based the title of the play on a line from Langston Hughes' poem "Harlem":

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

Director Mathis says that "Its message of family, dreams, unity, interconnectedness is still a powerful message for audiences today. The New York Times stated that A Raisin in the Sun was a play that 'changed American theater forever.'"

The production's cast of veterans and new actors includes Toni Tinsley playing Mama Younger, Mark E. Pinkston as Walter Lee Younger, Steve Zelenka as Mr. Lindner, Shanelle Maris as Ruth Younger, Dominique Paramore as Benetha Younger, Ngozi Pinkston as Travis Younger, Herbert Hayes as George Murchison, Anthony Baulks as Asagai, and Jesse N. Robinson as Bobo.

A Raisin in the Sun will be presented in Nestor Hall Auditorium on
     Wednesday, February 27, at 8:00 p.m.
     Thursday, February 28, at 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
     Friday, February 29, at 8:00 p.m.
     Saturday, March 1, at 8:00 p.m.

All performances are free, and open to the public.

Posted:  February 20, 2008

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