Ken Yotsukura Photography
by Michele Markarian
“A Raisin in the Sun” by Lorraine Hansberry. Directed by Lois Roach. Presented by New Repertory Theatre, 321 Arsenal Street, Watertown, MA through October 1.
“Colored folks ain’t gonna get ahead in the world unless they start investing in some different things,” Walter Lee Younger (Damon Singletary) says to his wife, Ruth Younger (Lorraine Victoria Kanyike). Walter is tired of chauffeuring around rich white men and wants to do something of his own, namely, set up a bar with two friends. He’s hoping that his Mama Lena (the magnificent Juanita Rodrigues) will give him access to an insurance check coming to the household, after the death of his father, Walter. But Lena wants to move her family to a more spacious home in a nice neighborhood, rather than stay in the dilapidated apartment she’s had since the beginning of her marriage. Walter feels trapped, caught between two oppressors – the white world of privilege and his domineering mother. His manhood, and judgment, are affected by it. When a mild-mannered white man, Karl Lindner (Jon Vallante), from the neighborhood association of the home they’ve yet to move into comes to the apartment with a proposition, Walter Lee has to decide what kind of man he wants to be.
Many moons ago, when I was in a production of “A Hatful of Rain,” a woman came up to me at a party. “Are you and Johnny” – (my husband in the play) – “doing okay?” She had seen the play a few times and was invested. That’s crazy, I thought at the time, but guess what? I am now that woman with this production of “A Raisin in the Sun”! Seriously! This show was so realistic and so heartfelt that I’d already suspended disbelief while waiting for the curtain to go up, taking in Janie E. Howland’s wonderfully comfortable, lived-in set of a family’s well-worn home. Lois Roach’s direction gives the show a natural, realistic feel that serves the script and her cast well. And what a cast!
Kanyike is affecting as Ruth – she is one of those actors who has the ability to play two emotions at once. Valyn Lyric Turner is luminous as the ambitious Beneatha Younger, who, like her brother, has dreams, but is looking to get there on more solid footing. Rodrigues brings a touching world-weariness to Mama, whose emotional reaction to her son’s failure made me cry, too. As George, one of Beneatha’s suitors, Kadahj Bennett is the right mix of smarmy, smart, and clueless. Vallante plays Karl with the best of intentions; he really thinks he’s there to benefit both the family and his precious neighborhood. Singeltary, as Walter Lee, is a powder keg. He’s charming, he’s nasty, he’s pitiful – “Bitter? I’m a volcano”, he snarls. While I’ve seen this play a few times, I never feared for the women in Walter’s life – his wife and sister in particular – the way I did in this production. It’s a testimony to Singletary’s dynamic performance and Roach’s direction that you can actually imagine a different outcome to a play you are quite familiar with. When he says to the pregnant Ruth, “Who’s fighting you? Who even cares about you?” it’s a testimony of her love for him that she doesn’t smack him in the face before kicking him out. In spite of all of the fighting, the oppression, and the poverty, love is at the heart of this play, and that is what shines through. Better get your tickets right away – you don’t want to miss this, and rumor is they’re selling fast. For tickets and information, go to: https://newrep.org/
