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‘A Raisin in the Sun’ to shine at Lyons Township High School
Joylynn Mitchell (Momma), Chloe Szot (Beneatha) Kristin Penlton (Ruth) talk about Ruth's pregnancy as students rehearse "A Raisin In The Sun." | Jon Langham~for Sun-Times Media
Showtime
Students will stage Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 drama “A Raisin in the Sun” at 7 p.m. today (Thursday), Friday and Saturday in the Reber Center, 100 S. Brainard Ave. Tickets are $10, or $5 for children and senior citizens.
Director Eugene O’Reilly said he chose “A Raisin in the Sun” for a number of reasons.
“I’ve been wanting to do another all-black play for a while. The last was ‘Fences’ seven years ago,” he said.
The play tackles some hard issues, particularly racial discrimination when a neighborhood group offers to pay a family not to move into their white neighborhood.
“Overall, the play is very uplifting,” O’Reilly said. “Its message is family over anything. No matter how tough it gets, stick together, and you’ll be fine.”
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Updated: November 21, 2011 8:48AM
Newcomers to the Lyons Township High School stage will bring to life the powerful classic, “A Raisin in the Sun,” which opens Oct. 20 in La Grange.
Students will stage Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 drama at 7 p.m. Oct. 20-22 in the Reber Center, 100 S. Brainard Ave. Tickets are $10, or $5 for children and senior citizens.
The ensemble of seven portrays the dilemma of a poor African-American family on Chicago’s South Side facing how to spend a $10,000 insurance settlement from the late Walter Younger.
The characters struggle to choose among competing, long-held priorities. The play’s title is taken from a poem, which asks “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”
After renting a run-down apartment for most of her life, matriarch Lena Younger longs to buy a home with a garden in a better neighborhood. Daughter Beneatha dreams of going to medical school, and son Walter Lee has his heart set on opening a liquor store to support his wife, Ruth, and son, Travis.
Seniors Kristin Penlton of LaGrange Park, who plays Ruth, and Aziah Hill of La Grange, who portrays Beneatha’s two boyfriends, said they’re excited about their first major roles at LT.
“This is my first play. I love it,” Hill said. “I truly enjoy playing two parts. I’ll remember that experience for a long time.”
Hill said another student was cast as the second boyfriend, but he had to bow out. After giving the two roles some thought, Hill said he decided it would work. He portrays Nigerian student Joseph Asagai, as well as the well-off George Murchison, whom Beneatha eventually rejects as shallow.
“It was hard to speak as a Nigerian at the beginning,” Hill said. “But I’ve grown with it after doing some research, watching movies, and I met someone from Nigeria. He talks very fluidly.”
“George is the polar opposite of Asagai; he’s so Westernized. I enjoy George a lot,” Hill said. “It will be very interesting to see the audience reaction when they see me in both roles.”
Penlton said a friend encouraged her to try out for the play.
“I’ve been in some small plays, but nothing like this before,” she said. “I’m kind of nervous but really excited.”
“I like playing Ruth a lot, because of how strong she is. Despite everything she has to deal with in the family, she’s still holding strong,” Penlton said.
Director Eugene O’Reilly said Ruth’s character faces a number of challenges in the first act, portraying morning sickness from an early pregnancy, yet hiding it from her husband, Walter Lee. She also must bustle about the kitchen and deliver a steady stream of lines, the director said.
When asked how she memorizes the script, Penlton said, “I like to listen to music and put my lines in instead of the words to the songs.”
Interactions on stage seem to heat up a notch when freshman Chloe Szot of Willow Springs makes an entrance as the feisty Beneatha, racing along a journey of self-discovery and cultural identity.
“I like that she has attitude, and she knows how to make a good decision,” Szot said.
Szot said she appreciates the play’s historical perspective.
“I really like the play. You learn a lot about history,” she said. “I like the author. She knew what was going on and seemed to be ahead of her time on all the things about black culture. When she wrote it, she put in things people had never seen before.”
La Grange senior Trevoy Johnson said he enjoys playing Walter Lee, because of character similarities.
“Walter Lee is so much like myself, but that almost makes it hard,” Johnson said. “We both make stupid mistakes when we get frustrated.”
Western Springs junior Joylynn Mitchell said it was an adjustment learning to portray Lena, a mother and grandmother.
“I enjoy Lena quite a bit,” Mitchell said. “It’s fun to play someone older.”
The cast’s youngest member, Josh Leak of Westchester, is a seventh-grader at Westchester Middle School. Mitchell suggested her young cousin for the role.
“It’s really good experience, because I want to be an actor,” Josh said. “I was in a musical last year at my school, ‘Beauty and the Beast.’”
Josh said the cast’s senior members have been supportive and helpful.
“I’ve learned a lot about different emotions and different movements, how I’m supposed to act and more about my character,” he said.
Josh said he highlighted his lines in the script and began practicing right away before rehearsals began about six weeks ago.
“At school, we do small parts of the play with my friends at school,” he said. “They help my with the lines. My friends are very supportive.”
O’Reilly said he chose “A Raisin in the Sun” for a number of reasons.
“I’ve been wanting to do another all-black play for a while. The last was ‘Fences’ seven years ago,” he said. “And ‘Raisin’ is just a classic American piece, one of the top 10 plays of all time in a lot of people’s opinions.”
The play tackles some hard issues, particularly racial discrimination when a neighborhood group offers to pay Lena and her family not to move into their white neighborhood.
“Overall, the play is very uplifting,” O’Reilly said. “Its message is family over anything. No matter how tough it gets, stick together, and you’ll be fine.”
