'A Raisin in the Sun' - Play review

A Raisin in the Sun is a play co-produced by Eclipse Theatre Company, Sheffield Theatres and Belgrade Theatre Coventry, directed by Dawn Walton. It tells the story of financial and social strife in an African-American family in civil-rights era South Side Chicago who hit upon a small fortune in insurance money after the death of the family patriarch. A Raisin in the Sun plays through this week, finishing with a Saturday matinee and evening performance, at the Nuffield Theatre in Southampton, before continuing its tour in the Liverpool Playhouse, Watford Palace Theatre, Albany Theatre and Belgrade Theatre throughout March.

One of the things slightly mesmerising about this production from the very opening is its very intense attention to high naturalism. The whole play takes place in the kitchen/living(/bed)room of the Younger family's Chicago apartment and, though scene changes eventually break the unity of time afterwards, the first scene tracks the Younger family's morning routine from sister-in-law's groggy waking up and cooking breakfast (irl, with a cooker on stage) to elder-brother's reluctantly leaving for work as a chauffeur. The effort the cast go to in maintaining this illusion is very impressive and the work pays off as a very immersive and invested portrait of home life. Furthermore, it's a very relatable portrait of home life, which makes this naturalism a very important frame of reference for a 21st-century, English (largely white, in Southampton) audience to contextualise the social issues of the play in what might otherwise feel like a different, incomprehensible world; by giving the audience something they recognise and partake in daily the play can then make direct comparisons between the audience's experiences and the Younger family's.


Because, the social issues in A Raisin in the Sun are very relevant today, especially with the current field of republican presidential candidates and the recent flurry of racial injustices making their way into the international press. From the play's comfortable position of relative familiarity in a family living room the play covers huge swathes of philosophical territory, from the personal to the social to the international: abortion (briefly), assimilationism, poverty, segregation, discrimination, the dark history of African decedents in America (and Liberia, in a reference) to the challenging future of post-colonial independent governance in Africa. The latter comes in the form of an airdrop student, almost a portrait of Barack Obama Sr. as a college student, in a relationship which shines a light on the struggles of independent Africa which were hugely important at the time (and to a large extent still on going). Due to the structure of the story, it's even more effective in demonstrating the effect of issues by showing a family who think they're going to have it all then have that chance taken away. By seeing the contrast between the optimism and despondency we can see the direct human cost of such policies as, in the past, segregation and, currently, the 'war on drugs', and a beautiful monologue from the daughter near the end is the perfect mouthpiece of a people whose success or failure is defined by the obstructions of others (contra that recent Independent article about what makes people rich, eugh). What's even more depressing when looking back on the whole play, a fact which you're reminded off throughout indirectly, that the difference between the family feeling trapped and feeling free is $10,000.

High realism established in the first scene, this production is then able to employ a few moments of almost non-naturalism, and it does so very artistically and purposefully to heighten short moments of high emotion or historical importance. This was definitely a welcome change as the first couple scenes tended to be a little low-energy in the moments without tension, a side effect of the naturalism which made some of the relationships seem a little forced at these times. The snatches of stylisation were just more subtle nudges that the play was about something deeper and more universal than just a kitchen sink drama, which, in an odd way, were somehow more sobering than the strict naturalism of the rest of the play.

However, despite the few low-energy parts, the cast were, for the vast majority of the time, genuinely spectacular, especially at the moments of high emotion and high tension. The daughter of the family seemed to be a little too modern in her physical reaction and attitude, but at the same time this might have been intentional as it gave the audience another point of reference when viewing events and attitudes which, more so in Britain than in America, belong to another time. Two cast members who need to be highlighted as particularly brilliant from among the cast are the sister-in-law and the mother, in that order of brilliance, the former for carrying the realism of the play with her completely natural inhabitation of the character, the latter for being the emotional and moral lighthouse for the audience and for her time, expertly gauging when each was necessary, and the two together for an incredibly nuanced and complex relationship which was hugely fascinating to watch. The son was not so good (though still very good) as his wife at the portrayal of absolute naturalism, but his strengths lay mainly in achieving and portraying heights of emotion, which is lucky considering his role.

Except a few slip-ups into English accents of odd words, the whole cast were also very good at maintaining the Chicago accent, partly because I worked out that that's where it was set before it was named in the script (partly because every time the son spoke emphatically I could hear Kanye in my ear singing 'Southsaad, Southsaad, we gon' set this pardee on faa'). This to say, the director and cast evidently went to a lot of trouble in immersion in the culture of the time and place, in terms of aesthetic, accents of different social classes, mannerisms, etc., etc., and it really paid off, this production is an excellent lens through which to examine the struggles and social issues concerning African Americas past and present, whilst simultaneously being a thoroughly emotionally engaging family drama.

5/5.

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