Published: 11th March 2021
#ThrowBackToday: Only in 1959 did the first play written and directed by an African-American reach Broadway
In today's #TBT, we talk about A Raisin in the Sun, a play that had a successful run at Broadway and narrated a very important story about the perils of a black family living in the US of A
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One of the versions of the play | (Pic: Flickr)
The first play to be written and the first play to be directed by an African American, this is the legacy of A Raisin in the Sun. The D-Day was on March 11, 1959 when on Broadway, New York, the play ran for over 530 performances. Written by playwright Lorraine Hansberry and presented by American-Canadian theatre director Lloyd Richards, the drama was about a black family, their financial circumstances and the big American dream. In the background of the death of the family's patriarch and the life insurance they are bound to receive, it is about them moving to a white neighbourhood. But will they or won't they? What other obstacles will they face on the way? That's the premise.
What you should know is that the title draws from a popular poem of social activist and poet Langston Hughes. You have to read the poem and since it is short and scintillating, we are sharing it with you below.
READ ALSO: #ThrowBackToday: How India's first teacher passed away while doing good during the Poona Plague
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?
