A Raisin in the Sun

Reviewed by Holly Bartges

“A dream put on hold withers like a raisin in the sun.” The line comes from the poem Harlem written by Langston Hughes during the 1920s Harlem Renaissance. The Great Depression crushed the dreams of the Renaissance. The line became immortal with Lorraine Hansberry’s powerful groundbreaking play A Raisin in The Sun.

From L to R: Gabrielle Goyette (Lena Younger — “Mama”) and Cajardo Rameer Lindsey (Walter Lee Younger) in the Arvada Center’s production of A Raisin in the Sun. Photo: P. Switzer

Under the astute direction of Terry Dodd, the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities presents a stunning, brilliant production running through March 6.

Set in Chicago’s South Side, Raisin was originally produced in 1959 as a landmark with Hansberry being the first African American woman to have a play on Broadway.

Remarkably authentic for its portrayal of an African American family struggling to realize their dreams only a few years prior to the Civil Rights Movement breaking loose.

Watching this production with its realistic set of a roach infested dilapidated apartment is like looking through a window of a time machine and being transported back into the 1950s. Exquisite attention has been paid attention to the set design by Laura K. Love. When Bennie Younger, the 20-year-old sister of Walter Lee takes the bug spray after the roaches, one can almost see the little critters laughing in her face. Deliciously realistic, Kamaria King wears the growing up frustration including sibling spats with her brother and back talking to her mother and the sulking of a 20-year-old as easily as sliding into a silk garment for a night on the town.

Bennie lives with her brother grippingly played by Cajardo Rameer Lindsey, his wife Ruth (Adrienne Martin-Fullwood), her younger brother Travis who has to sleep on the living room sofa, and her mother, Lena, (Gabrielle Goyette). They all have dreams, some fuzzy and unformed, others specific right now dreams. Anticipation runs high. Mama expects a check from a $10,000 life insurance policy following the death of her husband. Mama hasn’t yet told them how she plans on spending the money. But they all have strong ideas on it should be spent.

Walter Lee having been a chauffeur all of his adult life saying, “yes Sir, no Sir” diluting his sense of humanity, dreams of becoming somebody important with a business of his own. Bennie, subjected to the taunting of Walter, wants to be a doctor. Collectively they dream of a house with a yard. Mama dreams of a garden.

Opening on an early morning as they all struggle to get out of bed for work and school, Ruth is the one who prods and scolds to get the blood flowing. Alex Ault and Tyrig Swingler share the role of Travis. Obstinate, observant, playful, resilient, inquisitive, last Saturday night, Swingler played Travis as though he was his best friend, keeping him locked in a closet, then letting him out to play.

Lindsey tears the heart from the throat running the gambit of emotions with anxiety, hope, desire, and frustration. Martin-Fullwood allows Ruth to show her desperation under the guise of keeping her family motivated and clinging to hope. The real power behind the family centers on Mama, Lena. Goyette fills the stage with determined power with shades of grief over her husband, child-like excitement over a $10,000 check, strength for her family, cuffing when necessary, teasing when it is called for. With jaw held high, one can almost hear the gritting of her teeth. Body bent from a life of hard work, limping from pain, Goyette fills Mama with a tough independent spirit.

Chaz Grundy as Joseph Asagai from Nigeria fills Bennie’s head with glamorous dreams of going to Africa with him. Appalled over her slick hair, he nudges her to go back to the nap. David McClinton takes George, a wealthy comfortable friend of Bennie’s whom she tolerates but does not love, for a ride revealing the disparity between poor and wealthy.

Unbeknownst to her family, Mama puts a down payment on a house in an all white neighborhood. Michael McNeill makes the skin crawl as Karl Lindner, a representative from the Neighborhood Association sent to politely dissuade the black family from moving in. The moment Chris Grundy slouches onto stage as Walter’s best friend, Bobo, the heart sinks. Before he speaks, you know he has lost the money Walter gave him for a business venture. It may collapse from exhaustion, but the human spirit carries a phoenix-gene that only knows how to fly upward.

As a flight to the past, as insight into human nature, this production of Raisin should not be missed under any circumstances.