A p ril 2. 20)4
______________ Çortlanb (Observer
Page II
Alberta
North Portland
East County
Beaverton
&
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photo by J enny
G raham /O regon S hakespeare F estival
Alton Scales (Armando McClain) is interested in the news in Iris’ (Sofia Jean Gomez) sister’s letter in a scene from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s production of
Lorraine Hansberry’s ‘The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, ’ now playing through July 3.
Lorraine Hansberry’s Wisdom
Oregon Shakespeare Festival revives play by African American playwright
by
D arleen O rtega
In 1959, at the age of 29, Lorraine
Hansberry achieved critical success with
herplay, A Raisin in the Sun. "The play,
which depicted the experience (reflect-
ing Hansberry's own) of a black family
buying a home in a white Chicago neigh-
borhood, had a successful Broadway
run and is now considered a classic of
American theater.
Five years later, during the final battle
with pancreatic cancer which cut her
life short at age 34, Hansberry's second
play was produced for what turned out
to be a much more limited and less
successful Broadway run. The reviews
at the time were mixed, and suggest that
critics and audiences didn't really know
what to make of the play. "The Sign in
Sidney Brustein's Window" has since
rarely been produced.
This spring, the Oregon Shakespeare
Festival has mounted a production of
"Sidney Brustein," 50 years after its
Broadway debut, which makes a terrific
case for Hansberry's wonderfully ambi-
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