Review : A Raisin in the Sun at New Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich

This is the fourth Eclipse Theatre production I have been to see and their craft for storytelling has so far never disappointed.  I was looking forward to seeing how Lorraine Hansberry’s ‘A Raisin in the Sun’, which was first produced on Broadway over 60 years ago would still be able connect to audiences today. The diversity of the audience attending the performance was a good first sign.

The play is focused around an African - American working class family living in a small apartment with big dreams for their futures. The Younger family’s chance to realise their ambitions is in reach when a life insurance cheque for $10,000 is in delivered to Lena who is played by Angela Wynter. Her loss for her husband was evident in her nostalgic delivery of stories and tensions become rife when Lena decides to put a down payment on a house in an all-white neighbourhood.  Wynter delivered with great passion and grace her struggle to understand the differing views within her family and it is a journey well explored throughout the play.

Walter played by Ashley Zhangazha made for powerful viewing as we witness his battle with himself and others around him, especially in scenes with his wife Ruth (Alisha Bailey) who demonstrated her struggle and longing for a different life very movingly. Walter pays a heavy price for his own ambitions with a notable scene in the second act that affects the whole family.  Walter and Ruth’s son Travis (Adryan Dorset Pitt) brought the innocence and sweet cheekiness of a young boy, a great portrayal of youth. Travis along with Beneatha who is played by Susan Wokoma, provided most of the comic relief which blended  well with the high emotions in scenes.  Beneatha is outspoken in her views and her desire to fulfil her ambitions and understand her identity was delivered with great strength and sensitivity.  Direction by Dawn Walton is seamless and well aided by Amanda Stoodley’s evocative period staging and Adrienne Quartly’s beautiful  early Jazz music selection.

It is a play about dreams and ambitions struggling to align and be realised. 

Through the struggles they face with divisions in race and class, hope is very much at the centre of the play. Even through adversity, hope strives to resolve this and why it is a story that is very much so still relevant today. 

Hx