Five people living together in a two-bedroom apartment in 1950s Chicago is enough to cause discomfort.
Add a domestic quarrel and the tribulations of being a black family in that time period, and therein lies the foundation of Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun."
Studio Arena presents the controversial drama, directed by Ron O.J. Parson, through Feb. 8.
The Younger family is hard-working. Each member is active in the labor force and most earn their own keep. Lizan Mitchell plays Lena Younger, the God-preaching and tough-loving matriarch of the family. It is Lena's inheritance of her late husband's life insurance policy that begins to tear the family apart.
Lena's son, Walter Lee (Jay Jones), is a dynamic character, sick of barely scraping by and the fact that his future seems destined to continue on that track. Walter tends to dream big, but does little else than talk about his desire for wealth, corporate office, fancy cars and pearls for his wife.
"I want so many things that they're driving me kinda crazy," he says.
Walter Lee takes little responsibility for his family, and habitually comes home drunk. Driven by his desire to spend his mother's small fortune on a liquor store investment, Walter's haphazard attitude is the most harmful to his family.
"Ain't nothing happen in this world unless you pay somebody off," he says, preaching to his inattentive family.
Bakesta King plays Beneatha, Lena's free spirited and flighty daughter. Beneatha is an attractive medical student with two boyfriends, Joseph Asagai (William Oliver Watkins) and George Murchison (Richard Satterwhite), and an inability to hold her tongue. Beneatha relies on her family's generosity to pay for her school; she is also counting on her mother's incoming check to pay for a large portion of her future.
Walter Lee's wife, Ruth (Tyla Abercrumbie), is an often over-looked member of the family. Her days are spent doing maid's work and keeping her own house and caring for her family are tiresome. She longs for a good life for her son, Travis (Devon Ivey and Aeron Chaney, in alternating performances). Although she does not announce her plan for the money coming their way, she is anxious for its arrival, and excited at the possibility of owning a house.
When the check arrives, the lives of the members of the Younger family are changed forever. Mistakes are made, pain is felt, and a family is forced to remember what is most important in their less-than-ideal life.
In addition to monetary woes, the pride of the Younger family is also tested when a white man enters their home to disclose that his neighborhood would prefer to remain segregated. Speaking his piece to the family, Karl Linder (Richard Wesp), addresses them as "you people." The family refuses to acquiesce to his request.
"You just can't force people to change their hearts, son," says Linder.
For the Younger family, their trials are a lesson in taking charge, not sacrificing one's pride for money. While remaining true to her heritage, Beneatha speaks of her disdain for those who assimilate. The larger picture remains being true to oneself.
For a play filled with familial relationships, flawless acting is essential. All cast members give outstanding performances, especially Lizan Mitchell, whose heart-felt speeches to her children are close to tear jerking. Mitchell's portrayal of Lena creates a fair and caring character, one whom any person would be privileged to know.
Always elaborate at the Studio Arena Theatre, the set design for "A Raisin in the Sun" properly displays the rickety apartment that the family shares. The furniture is shabby, the walls are falling apart, and a curtain divides the master bedroom from the main living area.
But the metaphor of the play's title is unexplained until the end of the nearly three-hour running time. In the background for the majority of the play, sits a key element in the life of Lena: her little plant. Unable to grow, it struggles for survival in the dimly lit apartment. It is another example of Lena's strong-will and hope for all ailing living things in her life.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
