“A Raisin in the Sun” Opens 2007-08 Season at Dominguez Hills’ Edison Studio Theatre

The California State University Dominguez Hills Department of Theatre Arts presents Lorraine Hansberry's classic, “A Raisin in the Sun,” the opening play of the 2007-08 season. The show will open October 12 and run through October 26 in the 70-seat Edison Studio Theatre on campus.

“A Raisin in the Sun” tells the story of the Younger family — Mama, the matriarch, her adult children, Beneatha and Walter, and Walter’s wife and child, Ruth and Travis — all squeezed into a one-room apartment on the south side of Chicago and dreaming of a better life. The conflicts that arise from Walter's dream of opening a liquor store, Beneatha's dream of becoming a doctor, and Mama's dream of buying a house leave the family wondering if all these aspirations might not become “deferred” and left to dry up.

Joyce Johnson, emeriti professor of English, debuts in her first leading role on any stage as Lena Younger, the matriarch of the family.

"'Raisin' is important to me because I taught it for many years in my African American drama class, and I used to get so frustrated with the Walter Lee character because I really didn't understand his plight,” she says. “My focus was on his loss of money rather than on what the money represented to him as a black man. I have grown in my understanding of the play looking at it from the inside.”

When “A Raisin in the Sun” premiered in 1959, it became the first play written by an African American playwright to appear Broadway. The production met with critical acclaim during its original 15-month run, receiving a New York Drama Critics Circle best play award and four Tony Awards in 1960: best play, best actor (Sidney Poitier), best actress (Claudia McNeil) and best director (Lloyd Richards). A 2004 Broadway revival starring Phylicia Rashad also received Tony Award nods, with Rashad taking home the best lead actress award and Audra McDonald the best featured actress award.

Johnson emphasizes the play's resonance with contemporary audiences and the changes that have come about since its debut in the 1950s, saying that, “The middle-class has increased significantly, especially among African Americans, and the dream of owning a home or the possibility of doing something other than driving someone around or cleaning someone's house has widened to include job opportunities that simply were not there 50-plus years ago. But I think the attitudes towards fulfilling the dream remain the same: Everyone yearns for that house with a white picket fence and a job that allows them ‘just a pinch of dignity.’”

“A Raisin in the Sun” was first performed at CSU Dominguez Hills in 1978. This latest production is being staged in association with the Black Theatre Program at CSUDH and directed by associate professor of theatre arts Donis Leonard, who started the Black Theatre Program in 1999 to illuminate the black experience through arts and culture. The play will be performed in the university’s intimate Edison Studio Theatre.

Leading the cast as Walter Lee Younger is Adrian Thomas, a professional actor with a number of stage and film credits to his name. Thomas will be attending Dominguez Hills in spring 2008 to complete his degree in theater arts. He will be joined on stage by Johnson and current CSUDH students Denise Groce, Petal Walker, Freddie Davis, Alexandra Clark and Treasure Davis; CSUDH alumni Tiffany Cousin (’02), Phil Bray (’03), Antwan Herron (’04), Erik Grady (’04), and Samuel Simmons (’05); and Long Beach Renaissance High School student Taj Stewart as Travis. Stewart is a sophomore and already has a number of acting credits to his name, including “The Bernie Mac Show” and “Reba.”

Performances will take place weekends Oct. 12 to 21, with Friday and Saturday shows at 8 p.m. and Sunday shows at 2 p.m. The shows on Thursday, Oct. 25, and Friday, Oct. 26, will be at 8 p.m. Individual ticket prices are $12 or $10 for students and senior citizens. Special group rates are available for groups of 10 or more. Season subscriptions are $35 or $30 for students and senior citizens. Tickets may be purchased by calling (310) 243-3589. Online ordering is also available at www.zaptix.com (browse “California”).

The University Theatre complex, which includes the intimate Edison Studio Theatre and the 475-seat University Theatre, is located on the campus of CSU Dominguez Hills off Toro Center Drive/Tamcliff Street at Victoria Street in the city of Carson. Metered parking lots are within walking distance. Permits are $3 and can be purchased at yellow kiosk machines near each lot.

For more information, call (310) 243-3588.

- Amy Bentley-Smith and Joanie Harmon