A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry · 1959
A Black family in Chicago's South Side argues over what to do with a $10,000 insurance check. Hansberry was twenty-nine when it premiered and became the first Black woman to have a play on Broadway. The title comes from Langston Hughes. The play is about dignity, housing discrimination, and the weight of dreams deferred.
The case against
Hansberry built a flawless well-made play, which is also the criticism: three acts, one living room, every conflict resolved on cue. Walter's redemption lands in the final scene precisely when the form demands it. The warmth that made Broadway audiences comfortable applauding in 1959 can soften the anger the play actually carries.
Drama · the Pro canon
The case for it and the rest of the canon open with Pro.
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