This first big season since the world shut down under COVID-19 in 2020 is really showing how the BAC is back strong-and they are not playing around. Carla Carter and artistic director Kevin Pease. It did not disappoint.)īAC is under new leadership, with managing director Dr. (Having seen some flimsy sets in the past at other theaters, I was worried as that first slam was coming. Scenic and lighting designer Rick Keeley did a solid job with the set, which stands up to the door slams that increase as the tension in the story mounts. But the majority of the play was enjoyable.

I had a hard time distinguishing lines from Beneatha’s boyfriends (she’s torn between rich but shallow George Murchison, played by William Brown, and African student Joseph Asagai, played by DeShawn Spivey), or when actors faced away from the audience. My main complaint was the sound on some of the minor characters. Jayden Triplett is strong as Ruth and Walter’s son, Travis, and the rest of the cast fills out nicely. I can’t wait to see her in other productions.

Her physicality, comic timing, and dramatic flair are reminiscent of actor Tracee Ellis Ross. Played by Yvette Corrine in her Chicago stage debut, I can’t say enough about how enjoyable she was to watch. Then we have Walter’s sister, and Lena’s other child, Beneatha. Carey navigates this complexity beautifully her speech about her late husband and how he toiled his whole short life for his family is heartbreaking. Her choice of what to do with the life insurance policy on her late husband impacts and haunts all around her. Mother Lena (Veronda Carey) carries the weight of the house, the play, and the world on her shoulders. He is the heel and the heart, representing the stereotypes and real pain of straight Black men navigating a stacked system. Ruth’s husband Walter Lee (Aaron Ragland) is a role not to be envied. They carry Ruth’s emotions through the dramatic swings of this play, bringing us along for the bumpy ride. We meet the Younger family first through the eyes of Ruth, a perfectly understated Jenise Sheppard. Through 2/19: Thu-Sat 7:30 PM, Sun 2 PM, Beverly Arts Center, 2407 W. And Chicagoans can catch the short run of this play at Beverly Arts Center through February 19 in a wonderful production directed by Devin Christor. Today, there are organizations including Chicago Covenants still trying to un-do them, and the harm they caused.Ĭhicago-raised playwright Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun is perhaps the best known creative effort that captures the pain and trauma caused by this form of racism. Racial covenants that kept Black people out of certain neighborhoods of Chicago, and across the U.S., are not just a thing of the past. Best of Chicago 2022: Sports & Recreation.Best of Chicago 2022: Music & Nightlife.Get your Best of Chicago tickets! Line-Up Announced > Close

A raisin in the sun full play