History Theatre / ARaisinInTheSun

Notable for being the first play by a black woman to be shown on Broadway as well as the first play with a black director. Despite Hansberry's worries, the play was a huge success, and would have probably become the author's big break had she not suffered an untimely death from cancer a few years afterwards. It has been adapted several times, most notably as a 1961 theatrical film (directed by Daniel Petrie and starring most of the original Broadway cast, including Creator/SidneyPoitier, Claudia [=McNeil=], and Ruby Dee), as well as MadeForTVMovie productions in 1989 and 2008, and the 1971 {{musical}} ''Raisin''.

Notable for being the first play by a black woman to be shown on Broadway as well as the first play with a black director. Despite Hansberry's worries, the play was a huge success, and would have probably been Hansberry's big break had she not died a few years afterwards. It has been adapted into a 1961 theatrical film (directed by Daniel Petrie and starring most of the original Broadway cast, including Creator/SidneyPoitier, Claudia [=McNeil=], and Ruby Dee), as well as MadeForTVMovie productions in 1989 and 2008, and the 1971 {{musical}} ''Raisin''.

[[quoteright:242:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/a_raisin_in_the_sun.jpeg]]

-->--'''Langston Hughes''', "Harlem"

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Notable for being the first play by a black woman to be shown on Broadway as well as the first play with a black director. Despite Hansberry's worries, the play was a huge success, and would have probably been Hansberry's big break had she not [[{{AuthorExistenceFailure}} died a few years afterwards.]] It has been adapted into a 1961 theatrical film (directed by Daniel Petrie and starring most of the original Broadway cast, including Creator/SidneyPoitier, Claudia [=McNeil=], and Ruby Dee), as well as MadeForTVMovie productions in 1989 and 2008, and the 1971 {{musical}} ''Raisin''.

* HollywoodAtheist: Beneatha is portrayed as ignorant and selfish for not believing in God. Her mother slaps her for saying so.

Notable for being the first play by a black woman to be shown on Broadway as well as the first play with a black director. Despite Hansberry's worries, the play was a huge success, and would have probably been Hansberry's big break had she not [[{{AuthorExistenceFailure}} died a few years afterwards.]] It has been adapted into a 1961 theatrical film (starring most of the original Broadway cast, including Creator/SidneyPoitier and Ruby Dee), made-for-TV productions in 1989 and 2008, and the 1971 {{musical}} ''Raisin''.

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Willy Harris is not revealed to have any commeupance for stealing WAlter and Bobo.]]

* MoonWhiplash: The family is quite pleased with themselves for not stooping to taking bribe money from the racist Karl Lindner to not move to the all-white Clybourne Park..but shortly afterwards [[spoiler: Bobo comes and tells WAlter that Willy has fled to town with all of money they gave him to invest in the liquor store...which included the money that Walter was supposed to deposit in the bank for Beneatha's education as a doctor. The mood the mood turns quite solemn.]]

* {{Greed}}: Walter's tragic flaw.

%%* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Willy Harris.]]

* HollywoodAtheist: Beneatha is portrayed as ignorant and selfish for not believing in God. Her grandmother slaps her for saying so.

* It'sAllAboutMe: Walter throws a huge fit at the notion that the money will be divided equally between him, his sister, and a down payment on a house for them all. He cries at his mother about how she's killed his dream, and then refuses to go to work. He then steals his sister's share of the money and gives it all to Willy to start his liquor store business.

* GoodGirlsAvoidAbortion: [[spoiler:Played straight with Ruth, who gets a down payment on an abortion when she finds out she's pregnant, but she ends up keeping the baby when the family gets a bigger house]].

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Willy Harris.]]

''A Raisin in the Sun'' is a play written by Lorraine Hansberry in 1959. It details the life and times of the Younger family, a poor black family living in a small apartment in Chicago. Due to the passing of the elder Mr. Younger, the family is now in the position of receiving a large life-insurance check. Each of the adult members of the family has an idea as to what he or she would like to do with this money, and over the next few weeks, it's shown how each character's hopes and dreams affect the other family members.

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler:Willie Harris.]]

->What happens to [[UsefulNotes/TheAmericanDream a dream deferred]]?\\

like [[LiteraryAllusionTitle a raisin in the sun]]?\\

* TheUnfavorite: Benetha. It seems no matter how much Walter screws up, Lena is determined to coddle him, while Benetha is treated with derision, despite being a hard-working student with aspirations to be a ''doctor'' (a major accomplishment for a black woman even today, much less back then)

* DespairEventHorizon: Both Walter and Mama pass this when [[spoiler: Willie Harris makes off with the money]].

->What happens to [[AmericanDream a dream deferred]]?\\

->What happens to a dream deferred?\\

* BrotherChuck: The character of Mr. Johnson, at least in the original script. He doesn't show up at all in later versions of the story.

''A Raisin in the Sun'' is a play written by Lorraine Hansberry in the 1950s. It details the life and times of the Younger family, a poor black family living in a small apartment in Chicago. Due to the passing of the elder Mr. Younger, the family is now in the position of receiving a large life-insurance check. Each of the adult members of the family has an idea as to what he or she would like to do with this money, and over the next few weeks, it's shown how each character's hopes and dreams affect the other family members.

* PosthumousCharacter: Big Walter

* PurpleProse: An odd case of a play doing this, if you read the script, you'll see that the stage directions and set descriptions are unusually detailed and precise.