It was no surprise the Royale Theater was packed with seasoned theater goers and excited fans. It hasn’t been since 1959 that acclaimed African American playwright Lorraine Hansberry’s seminal work of art, A Raisin in the Sun was produced on Broadway. Now it’s back! Directed by Kenny Leon, (Artistic Director of True Colors Theater Company). Starring in the title role is none other than: Sean Combs (aka P. Diddy), as Walter Lee Younger? Truly theater needs new audience, and he can certainly draw the crowds, hopefully, the determination of this work isn’t forgotten in the glam of celebrity. In this play Hansberry tells the story of the Younger family, a black family from the Southside of Chicago in the 1950’s, focusing on the journey of Walter Lee, the eldest son of Lena. He is a tortured soul wrestling with a dream, the responsibilities of family life and coming into his manhood.

When the curtain rises the set (Thomas Lynch) transports you to a time of simplicity. There is the look of things being in there proper place, an imposed practicality. There is a couch, a table, a couple of chairs, a stove, and an icebox. A plant reaching for the little glimmer of light (Brian MacDevitt) through a window with a brick wall view. As the story unfolds the room grows to accommodate the family of five and seems to fill up with their hopes, but that hope, like the set, is somewhat gray, but kept up although imposed upon.

The first entrance is by Ruth Younger, Walter Lee’s wife, (played by 3 time Tony Award winner Audra McDonald). The alarm clock sounds, she enters wearing an old robe, house slippers, her hair is tied. It is the routine she rises to daily: Despair, and the responsibility to maintain it. She wakes her son, “Time to get up”, Travis (Alexander Mitchell), he sleeps on the couch. “Walter Lee!” she yells into the dining area that’s used as a bedroom, “It’s time for you to get up!” When he stumbles out, the eye is drawn to an icon, acting “sleepy”, wearing pajamas, a watch, and a gold ring with a low frequency “bling-bling” (Costumes by Paul Tazewell). The crowd bursts with applause, “Diddy!” However, acting requires certain adjustments to be successful. Technique, characterization and a character’s internal life, are fundamental. These elements, or the lack thereof, are evident the instant an actor walks on stage. Perhaps, one might wonder, this is exactly what Walter Lee needs, the ego and charisma of a mega star.

art by Bret Schlesinger

Beneatha Younger (Sanaa Lathan) enters, Walter Lee’s younger sister and collegiate changeling, with aspirations of being a Doctor. She represents progress, and is probably the character closest to the playwright’s own voice. The goal of women is hammered out in her context. She exclaims plainly as she drifts from one fascination to another, “I’m looking for my identity”. Ironically, her greatest adversary seems to be less a system of disadvantage and more the black men to whom she is genetically and socially bound. The same in Ruth’s case, despite her efforts to love Walter Lee, he doesn’t reciprocate the support. Instead, he considers black women “ backward” and a “race of people who moan and pray and have babies”.

Lena Younger, Mama, is played by the amazingly compassionate Phylicia Rashad. Proven on the stage (and, of course, on television) to possess incredible depth and thoughtfulness. Lena is a matriarch, a widow and a “descendant of five generations of slaves and sharecroppers in this country”. Ms. Rashad’s interpretation projects dignity. She is strong, steadfast and authoritative. Always loving, and always fully committed, both actress and character. After the show, when asked why she felt this play is relevant today, she answered “It’s relevant because it’s a human play, it’ s a humanizing play”.

The role of Joseph Asagai was excellently executed by Teagle F. Bougere. Asagai is a young exchange student from Nigeria. In some ways he is the voice of reason, and in every way a window into the pride that was once a Nation. Hansberry writes Asagai to shed some light on the dreary state of affairs in Younger life. Asagai says to Beneatha “The world’s most liberated woman is not liberated at all.” As an outsider he is unaffected by American racism. In fact, he thinks that Americans (particularly women) are not fully cognizant, and therefore, do not value their freedom.

The main cast is rounded out by not so minor players (doing major performances). When the Younger’s decide to move to a white neighborhood, they are visited by a “Community Representative”, Karl Lindner, played by David Aaron Baker (seen on Broadway in The Rainmaker). Walter Lee’s friend, Bobo is played by film and theater actor Bill Nunn (Sister Act). The role of George Murchison is played by a recent graduate of The Julliard School making his Broadway debut, Frank Harts. Director Kenny Leon has kept this production faithful to the 1979 original and seen to it that the play has not lost its impact.

Audiences will be entertained and, more importantly, they will be educated. With our 21st century connectivity we may be distracted into thinking we have overcome. We may think we are no longer separate, that dreams are no longer deferred, but take a look at the south side of Chicago today. Has it changed much? Look at inner cities nation wide; are they very different from the world in Raisin? The relevance of this work goes without saying. The overall theme the playwright and this cast capitalized on was the strength of family, the need for support and the need to nurture dreams.