description: "Never before, in the entire history of the American theater, has so much of the truth of black people's lives been seen on the stage," observed James Baldwin shortly before A Raisin in the Sun opened on Broadway in 1959.Indeed Lorraine Hansberry's award-winning drama about the hopes and aspirations of a struggling, working-class family living on the South Side of Chicago connected profoundly with the psyche of black America--and changed American theater forever.  The play's title comes from a line in Langston Hughes's poem "Harlem," which warns that a dream deferred might "dry up/like a raisin in the sun.""The events of every passing year add resonance to A Raisin in the Sun ," said The New York Times .  "It is as if history is conspiring to make the play a classic."  This Modern Library edition presents the fully restored, uncut version of Hansberry's landmark work with an introduction by Robert Nemiroff.
language: English
title: A Raisin in the Sun
titlecomplete: A Raisin in the Sun
characters: Walter Younger, Ruth Younger, Beneatha Younger, Lena Younger, Travis Younger
genres: High School, Drama, Theatre, Read For School, School, Plays, Classics, Historical Fiction, Fiction, African American
ratings_count: 92197
places: Chicago, Illinois, Illinois
awards: awardedAt: -347126400000
name: New York Drama Critics' Circle Award
category: Best American Play, awardedAt: 1325404800000
name: Audie Award
category: Multi-Voiced Performance
publisher: Signet