Theater Reviews : Ensemble’s ‘Raisin in the Sun’: Anger, Optimism Reign

Before August Wilson began his monumental cycle of plays describing the black experience in 20th-Century America, Lorraine Hansberry foreshadowed his work with her powerful dramatic classic, “A Raisin in the Sun.”

The play outlines what it was like being black and trying to better oneself at the beginning of the civil rights movement. One of its achievements is reminding us that things haven’t changed that much in the intervening decades.

Roosevelt Blankenship Jr.’s staging of Hansberry’s drama at the Ensemble Theatre has all of Hansberry’s anger, and a lot of her optimism. The Younger family has just received a $10,000 check, the payoff from the deceased father’s life-insurance policy. The anger is symbolized by volatile son Walter Lee’s greedy obsession with opening a liquor store, the optimism by mother Lena’s wise intention to use the money for the family.

Their reasons and their methods lay out the conflict, with Walter Lee’s disastrous investment and Lena’s purchase of a house in an uptight white neighborhood signifying the dangers in the family’s best-laid plans.

Blankenship directs the piece honestly and with a disturbing edginess that finds the heart of Hansberry’s writing. Another director might have brought out a bit more variation in Blankenship’s strong performance as Walter Lee, but the character’s bitterness shines through, along with an undercurrent of gentleness Walter Lee tries very hard to hide.

Synthia Tarver, although not really old enough to provide Lena with the strong foundation of years of hardship, has an appealingly forthright strength that gives Lena the authority she should have. Gayla Johnson, as Walter Lee’s wife, Ruth, is excellent, the oil on the family’s troubled waters, even at those times when Walter Lee turns violent against her.

Roosevelt Blankenship III is adorable as the young song of Walter Lee and Ruth, but Tanya Nelson hasn’t been able to find a firm core to her characterization as Beneatha, Lena’s youngest, who wants desperately to be a doctor but wavers from ideology to ideology with discouraging ease.

Michael Harris as Beneatha’s rich boyfriend and Peter Hill as the representative of the white community that wants to buy the house back before the Youngers move in, have both found interesting textures in their roles. Harris is also effective doubling as Bobo, Walter Lee’s self-effacing friend who delivers the bad news about his dumb loss of a large chunk of the insurance money.

Walter Powell stands out strongly as another of Beneatha’s boyfriends, the idealistic Joseph Asagai, an idealistic Nigerian student who lures her with tribal power and revolutionary zeal. Powell’s performance is beautifully conceived and executed.

“A Raisin in the Sun” was written several decades ago, but it still speaks today of harsh truths, and brave hope, and of the unstoppable progress of the human race in the face of every obstacle.

* “A Raisin in the Sun,” Ensemble Theatre, 844 E. Lincoln Ave., Suite E, Orange. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m. Ends Feb. 18. $12-$15. (714) 998-2670. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes. Gayla Johnson: Ruth Younger

Roosevelt Blankenship III: Travis Younger

Roosevelt Blankenship Jr.: Walter Lee Younger

Tanya Nelson: Beneatha Younger

Synthia Tarver: Lena Younger

Walter Powell: Joseph Asagai

Michael Harris: George Murchison/Bobo

Peter Hill: Karl Lindner

An Eastern Boys Company production of Lorraine Hansberry’s drama. Directed by Roosevelt Blankenship Jr. Assistant director: Jim Mongell.