January ?1, 2000?
THEÄTE
A Portland
production of
R aisin in the S u n
inspires a tribute
to the acclaimed
lesbian playwright
PHOTO BY OW EN CAREY
by
R upert K innard
the Year. Hansberry’s education
included studying African history
under noted black scholar W.E.B.
Du Bois, and she was intensely
involved in the civil rights move
ment of the early 1960s. She also
associated with such black cultur
al giants as Langston Hughes,
Duke Ellington and Paul Robe
son. Her activism within the
queer community, however, is
rarely celebrated.
I, like so many others, am
most familiar with the 1961 film
version of the play, which cap
tures the definitive performances
of
Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee and
A scene from A R T ’s production of A R aisin in th e Sun
Claudia McNeil— all from the
original Broadway cast. The film stands on its
aving seen a new (and unfortunately rare)
own as great cinema, and anyone not able to
local production of Raisin in the Sun, now
experience the stage production will be well-
playing at the Artists Repertory Theatre,
rewarded by renting the video.
1 found myself pondering the importance
Having watched the film more than a half-
and impact of sexual identity on an artist’s art.
dozen times since I last saw a stage production
Most of what has been written recently about
of Raisin in Chicago during the mid-’70s, I had
Raisin has centered on the various themes
forgotten just how much the play differs from
incorporated within it and the justifiable
the film. The current staging at ART is a strik
acknowledgment that the play remains one of
ing reminder of the powerful dialogue that was
the greatest works of the last century.
cut from the play’s nearly three hours for the
Most of what has been written about the
movie version’s 128 minutes (which was con
play’s author, Lorraine Hansberry, has omitted
densed by screenwriter Hansberry).
the fact that she was a lesbian— or at least
The play revolves around a family’s antici
bisexual. It is certainly debatable whether or
pation of a relatively large sum of money in the
not one’s sexual orientation needs to be men
form of a life insurance check and how it
tioned in biographies, though it seems clear
affects a young struggling black man, his wife,
that we live in a society that assumes hetero
son, sister and mother who share a tiny
sexuality if not told otherwise— especially if
Chicago apartment in 1952. Hansber
the fact that the artist was married is
ry’s sensitive and complex view of
mentioned.
the world is exactly what makes
Since she was bom in 1930 and
Raisin in the Sun brilliant theater.
moved to New York in the early
All the themes that are
1950s, Lorraine Hansberry can’t be
touched on in the film— assimi
considered part of the Harlem
lation, racism, sexism, abortion,
Renaissance, which occurred dur
classism— are expanded upon in
ing the 19?0s and early 1930s and
A R Ts wonderfully realized pro
popularized the works of writers such
duction of Raisin m the Sun. The
Lorraine
as Langston Hughes and Zora Neale
staging
is fluid and the intimate set
Hansberry
Hurston. But Hansberry, along with
ting of the family’s apartment is ideal for
this theater-mostly-in-the-round.
writer-activist James Baldwin, was among
the black authors who embodied the enduring
The cast ably meets the challenges of the
vigor of the late 1950s and early 1960s. All
powerful dialogue. Actor Brenda Phillips
four of these writers are commonly known to
impressively manages to convey the profound
wisdom
of the family matriarch, who is obvi
have been lesbian, gay or bisexual.
ously from a fairly simple background. The pro
Throughout the 1950s, Hansberry con
duction
conveys humor, mystery, struggle, con
tributed works exploring such varied subjects as
flict and is ultimately uplifting. Nothing gets in
the linking of sexism to gay oppression and the
the way of the inspiring story that continues to
exploration of butch-femme role playing to
be amazingly relevant some 40 years after it
magazines such as O ne and The Ladder, which
were publications of fairly young queer organi
was written.
Just as she is embraced by the African
zations of the day. According to her husband,
American
community as a trailblazer, the queer
Robert Nemiroff, Hansberry s homosexuality
community should also be proud to claim Lor
“was not a peripheral or casual part of her life
raine Hansberry as one of our own.
but contributed significantly on many levels to
the sensitivity and complexity of her view of
■ The Artists Repertory Theatre production o f A
human beings and of the world.”
R aisin in the S un runs through Feb. 20 at the
What is well-known about Hansberry is
Reiersgaard
Theatre, 1516 S.W . Alder St. in Port-
that Raisin m the Sun, which was written in
land. For more information, call (503) 2 4 1'1278.
1959, was the first play by a black woman pro
duced on Broadway. She was the first black
R upert K innard is the Art Director for Just
dramatist, fifth woman and the youngest
Out
and a childhood survivor o f 1950s Chicago.
American to win the prestigious New York
Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play of
H
Over 750 video titles
Over 150 DVD titles
Video sales & rental
DVD sales & rental
K a th e rin e ’s
Body Piercing
Salon
3 Full length feature films
2 Theatres
Male Features 7 days a week
XKX -THEME T
uesdays
:
All Male Features in Main Theatre
Northwest's Premier Adult Theatre
open 9:30 am • 18 a older
1 2 3 2 SlAf 1 2 th a v e
2 2 3 -1 8 4 6
$79
¥~
A C :
m
u p p e r lip, c h in
b ik in i, u n d e r a r m s
neck, s h o u ld e rs
eyebrow s
$149
t
AC T » «
back, chest
u p p e r legs
lo w e r leg s
arm s