Full of humour and heart, rehearsal room images for a fresh new staging of A Raisin in the Sun reflect the joy and challenges faced by the family the ground-breaking production revolves around.
Written by Lorraine Hansberry – the first Black woman to have a play on Broadway in 1959 – and directed by Tinuke Craig (Trouble in Butetown, Jitney, Crave, The Color Purple), it premieres at Leeds Playhouse on 13-28 September before going on a national tour.
A Raisin in the Sun is a Headlong, Leeds Playhouse, Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and Nottingham Playhouse co-production of this classic family drama full of humour and heart that remains relevant and powerful in a world still divided by inequality.
Doreene Blackstock (Sex Education, Unknown Rivers) plays Lena, Joséphine-Fransilja Brookman (High Times and Dirty Monsters, A Pigment of Your Imagination, Macbeth) plays Beneatha, Cash Holland (A Streetcar Named Desire, Odyssey, Julius Caesar) plays Ruth, Solomon Israel (Jitney, The Barber Shop Chronicles, Miss Littlewood) plays Walter Lee, Gilbert Kyem Jnr plays George (The Milkmans Purpose, Love Speech), Kenneth Omole (Top Boy, Macbeth, Barbershop Chronicles) plays Joseph/Bobo and Jonah Russell (Arms and the Man, I, Joan, The Brilliant Friend) plays Karl.
In Leeds, the role of Travis will be performed by Jayden Dias, Josh Ndlovu and Adiel Magaji.
In a rented apartment on Chicago’s South Side, the Younger family is full of hope, dreams, grief, and big plans. Their beloved father has died, and the money from his life insurance policy could change their lives. Mama wants to put down roots in a home of her own. Her daughter Beneatha has her heart set on becoming a doctor. But her son Walter Lee thinks the money is his to spend — and he’s willing to sacrifice his values and his family to get what he wants. Each must face what it means to escape the confines of a segregated society. How do you create a meaningful life in a world designed to keep you down?
The full creative team includes Tinuke Craig (Director), Cécile Trémolières (Set Designer), Maybelle Laye (Costume Designer), Dominique Hamilton (Wigs, Hair & Make up Designer), Max Pappenheim (Composer & Sound Designer), Joshua Pharo (Lighting Designer), Sarita Piotrowski (Movement Director), Haruka Kuroda (Fight & Intimacy Director), Aundrea Fudge (Voice & Dialect Coach), Phillipe Cato (Associate Director), Ruta Irbite (Design Associate), Luke Haywood (Lighting Associate), Lotte Hines (Casting Director) and Joi Gresham (Literary Trustee).
A Raisin in the Sun premieres at Leeds Playhouse (13-28 Sep) before touring to Oxford Playhouse (2-5 Oct), Lyric Hammersmith Theatre (8 Oct – 2 Nov) and Nottingham Playhouse (5-16 Nov).
A Leeds Playhouse, Headlong, Lyric Theatre Hammersmith and Nottingham Playhouse production
Courtyard Theatre, Leeds Playhouse from 13 to 28 September
Age 14+
Box office 0113 213 7700
Book online here
All photography by Marc Brenner. Main image: Doreene Blackstock, Oliver Dunkley, Solomon Israel, Cash Holland, Joséphine-Fransilja Brookman.
