Sacramento Theatre Company
This October, Sacramento Theatre Company opens its 64th season with the classic, A RAISIN IN THE SUN.
“WHAT HAPPENS TO A DREAM DEFERRED?” The Youngers, an African-American family living on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s, await the arrival of $10,000 in life insurance benefits. The money, resulting from the death of the family patriarch, becomes a crucible for everyone’s desperate desire for a better life. Mother, daughter, son and his wife clash over whether to buy into a dream of assimilation and conformity or gamble on an uncertain future of their own making.
A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry was the first play written by an African-American woman to be produced on Broadway. After its premiere in 1959 the play quickly became an American classic. This powerful drama won both the New York Drama Critics’ Circle and Tony Awards for Best Play before becoming a feature film in 1961. Today, the Broadway revival, directed by Kenny Leon featuring Phylicia Rashad and Sean Combs, still resonates with audiences and continues to bring in honors including four 2004 Tony Award nominations and two wins including Best Actress and Best Featured Actress in a Play.
Multi-talented actor, Steve Harris, of ABC’s hit drama, The Practice, is set to take the lead as Walter Lee in STC’s 2005/2006 Season opener. Under the direction of Philip Sneed, A Raisin in the Sun will also feature STC Associate Artist Matt K. Miller and the talents of Rob Anthony (Bobo), James Davonté (Travis Younger), Noah Hayes (George Murchison), Paul Oliver (Joseph Asagi), Maya Thomas (Ruth Younger), and Danielle Mone’ Thrower (Beneatha Younger).
The production’s set design is conceptualized by Edward Burbridge who, at the tender age of eighteen, designed the first production for Sacramento Theatre Company (then Sacramento Civic Repertory Theatre.) Since then Burbridge has moved on to design productions nationally and has worked with the likes of Ruby Dee, Al Pacino, Hal Holbrook, Dustin Hoffman, Denzel Washington, Gene Kelly, Barbara Streisand and Diana Ross. |
