A Raisin in the Sun by Marc Foster

A Raisin in the Sun by Marc Foster

“Once upon a time, liberty was life but now it’s money” says Lena Younger, played by Kimberly Scott, in the play A Raisin in the Sun. A Raisin in the Sun, written by Lorrain Hansberry, is a play about a black family struggling with money, pride, and independence. The play takes place somewhere between World War Two and 1959. The whole play is set in the house of the Younger family. In response to this play Bruce Norris wrote the play Clybourne Park about the house before the Younger family moved in and about the house after the Younger family moved in, in modern times.

            Both plays have a different perspective for the issue of racism. Raisin in the Sun took the point of view of a black family in the early 1900s and Clybourne Park focused on the point of view of whites in the early 1900s and early 2000s. Both plays addressed race issues. Raisin in the Sun focused on race and culture the whole time while Clybourne Park had a few side plots that strayed from the main issue of racism.

            Clybourne Park was split into two acts, both taking place in a house in Clybourne Park, Chicago. The first act was about a white family that was moving out of the house because their son had killed himself there. The central conflict for that family is not race related at all. The son killed himself because he had fought in Korea and was accused of killing innocent people. This stray from the main issue of racism helped to emphasize that racism is outdated and needs to end.

            Russ, played by Thomas Derrah, is the father of the son who killed himself. His character could not have given a care in the world about the issue he had created in selling the house to a black family for the Clybourne Park neighborhood. For the audience it seemed like he did not care because he thought racism irrelevant to his issues. That is what this play is trying to say, is that racism is irrelevant. Not irrelevant in the way that we ignore it, but irrelevant in the way that at this point in history it is keeping us from ever progressing. People need to get over their prejudices is what the actors, and Russ were trying to say in this play.

            Some people thought the conflict with the son was distracting from the main issue but I thought the son accented the stupidity and close-mindedness of racism. The father was angry at his neighborhood for closing his son off to their community and for leading him to his death. This character made the audience think about the real importance of community and friendship, no matter the race or gender. I highly recommend going to this show to experience this new perspective on racism.