Raisin in the Sun, A

This film documents the history of the leading figures, institutions, and events that transformed the American stage in the wake of Civil Rights activism. It includes interviews with Ossie Davis, Amiri Baraka, James Earl Jones, and Ntozake Shange, plus clips from many landmark plays.

Explore the role of women in the 1950s in this video from the American Masters film, Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart. Incorporating footage of women in the 1950s, Lorraine Hansberry’s life, and scenes from the film version of A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry’s choices are compared to the choices of female characters in the play. Support materials include discussion questions and a handout asking students to compare the life of women today versus the 1950s.

Hosted by Eric Stoltz, this program dissects Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun through the sharp insights of Joe Morton (Walter Lee Younger); Kim Yancey (Beneatha Younger); Phylicia Rashad (Lena Younger); Ruby Dee, Audra McDonald, Starletta DuPois, and Ernestine Jackson (Ruth Younger); Ralph Carter (Travis Younger); John Fiedler (Carl Lindner); directors Lloyd Richards and Jack Hofsiss; Broadway producer Philip Rose; and Hansberry expert Lynn Domina, author of Understanding A Raisin in the Sun: A Student Casebook to Issues, Sources, and Historical Documents.

This program features excerpts from the 1969 off-Broadway production at the Cherry Lane Theater of To Be Young, Gifted, and Black: The World of Lorraine Hansberry adapted by Robert Nemiroff (Hansberry's widower) and directed by Gene Frankel.