Raisin in the Sun Awes the Audience

Ever had a dream that couldn't be forgotten? The SCC theatre in the Humanities building was filled with dreams on the opening night of "Raisin in the Sun". The lights hit the stage at 8 pm on March 3rd to open one of the most well written pieces of theatre literature by Lorraine Hansberry.

"Raisin in the Sun" won the New York Drama Critics award as the best American play in the year 1959 and was also the first African American female to present a play on Broadway. The play takes place in Chicago in the 1950's and is about a struggling African American family.

The family receives an insurance check from the death of the father, Big Walter for 10,000 dollars but a question is raised within the family: what is the right thing to do with the money? Each character has their own ideas and beliefs about where they want their life to head but they can't seem to agree on one idea. After conflict and heartbreak the family is torn apart.

With the family struggling to make the right decision it is up to them to get their family back together in one piece and follow their dreams together. The play was directed by Hal Berry and he was very happy to be there opening night.

"I was so proud of them, they worked so hard putting this together, and tonight it went extremely well, Berry said. "I felt the audience was with them whether it was in the humorous parts or the tragic parts I felt that the audience really responded well and I received a lot of nice comments after the performance."

The actors and actresses also made a great contribution to this performance with their unbelievable energy and their ability to capture and portray the characters Lorraine Hansberry created within the piece.

Selena Steed a SCC student and also the character Beneatha Younger in the play said, "I think it went spectacular and that it was an excellent show, all the energy was up. All the actors and myself really enjoyed working with each other," Steed said. "We really appreciated the crowd and it was a lot of fun."

The characters were able to provide the combination of humor and tragedy to bring the performance to life and to complete the work of theatre art that Lorraine Hansberry had written many years ago. The set was a perfect edition to the performance and did a wonderful job capturing the essence of a family struggling to do the best with what they had to work with.

Teressa R. Kindle, one of the performers who played the character Lena "Mama" Younger said, "The performance went even better than I expected, I was just so excited to be there and to play the role I was given. The energy was hot from the moment we entered the stage. "I really felt like "Mama" when I was performing so that's what's important to me, putting on a good show."

This particular performance is sensational for many reasons but most importantly it represents the struggle of one family and it deals with life and overcoming obstacles. So get your tickets soon it's a performance one wouldn't want to miss.