Stage Review - A Raisin in the Sun (Taproot Theatre)

Stage Review - A Raisin in the Sun
Presented By: Taproot Theatre - Seattle, WA
Show Run: March 19 - April 19, 2025
Date Reviewed: Friday, March 21, 2025 (Opening Night)
Run Time: 2 Hours, 45 Minutes (including a 15 minute intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman

As Taproot Theatre kicks off its 2025 season, the organization looks to continue the momentum that its been building coming out of a successful 2024 season that saw shows the likes of The Book of Will, How to Write a New Book for the Bible, and My Lord, What a Night, not to mention the triumphant Lewis and Tolkien that ran in Taproot’s Isaac Studio this past January while improvements were being made to the Jewell Mainstage auditorium, including upgrades to the sound system and seats. Things have been looking up for Taproot, meeting their recent financial goals in addition to their increasingly attended run of shows. This season’s theme is “Timed Exposure”, curated by Producing Artistic Director Karen Lund with a series of shows connecting the past to the present, illuminating both our successes and mistakes from years gone by with messaging that we can use to give us hope for the future, something we all need a little of these days, cliché and trite as it sounds. Their first mainstage show of the 2025 season is going to be a hard one to top, if I’m being honest. A month late for what would have been a great choice to put up for Black History Month, Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play A Raisin in the Sun, the study of a black family who receives an insurance settlement of $10,000 after the death of their patriarch, pitting a brother, sister, and mother against each other as they decide the best way to use the money, each with the hope of lifting their financial fortunes, has a little bit of everything of the best that Taproot has to offer. Intimately set in Taproot’s thrust stage configuration, this production of A Raisin in the Sun, directed by Bretteney Beverly, is impeccably acted, skillfully designed, and so full of emotion that audiences will leave full in their hearts and their souls as a result of having experienced this play.

Set in 1950s Chicago, A Raisin in the Sun tells the story of the Younger family, “Mama” Lena, her adult children Walter Lee and Beneatha, Walter’s wife Ruth, and their son Travis, all living together in their low income two-bedroom apartment on the South Side, all struggling to make ends meet, and all awaiting the arrival of the post seemingly daily, and with it a check in the amount of $10,000, a check that could change their lives, enough money to maybe, just maybe provide a little comfort in their lives that have heretofore consisted of one financial challenge after another. The check is an insurance settlement as a result of the death of Lena’s husband, Walter Lee’s and Beneatha’s father, and while at face value, this could be something to help them all, it seems as though they’ve each spent the money before it even arrives. Walter Lee, a limousine driver, has a grand plan to invest the money with his friends in a liquor store as a nest egg to support his growing family. Meanwhile, Beneatha dreams of being a doctor, something unheard of for a woman to aspire to in this time, much less a woman of color, and “Mama” has promised that some of the money should go to her education. Lena has also discussed the idea of using her late husband’s insurance money to purchase a house, to move them out of the cramped apartment, something that would benefit them all, and especially Ruth, whom nobody seems to be thinking about. All of this creates quite a bit of conflict within the family, and as they try to find a path forward, this multi-layered play tells this story among the changing civil rights landscape of the mid-20th Century, presenting it among the themes of racism, housing discrimination, and assimilation.

This is such a beautifully written play, one that many consider among the best ever written, the kind of piece that makes the hardships that this family is experiencing accessible, not necessarily relatable, it’s hard to relate to these conditions for many of us, but understandable enough to build an empathy for each of the characters, regardless of their actions, or their motivations. As the play progresses, it becomes abundantly clear that the family has more than just their own issues to deal with, and that what they’re required to face in society, just to make their own lives better may be too much to bear. At the end of the day, though, what doesn’t kill us, makes us stronger, or so they say, and these obstacles may just be what this family needs to come together.

Mark Lund’s scenic designs are always well done at Taproot, it’s like I’ve said many times, there’s nothing better than when a design team knows the space in which they’re working, especially if that space is as unique as the Jewell Mainstage and the way it is configured. Mark’s work always takes the space into consideration in his designs, and here, where he’s laid out this two bedroom apartment nicely, is no exception. And working with Bretteney, it’s clear that the cooperation between her movement and Mark’s set has been worked to perfection. To the rear of the stage is the family’s tiny kitchen, which seems to have working appliances, though it’s still not apparent to me whether the range is gas or if it’s electric but uses a clicking sound effect to make it sound like gas. Either way, when the audience sees melting butter in a pan, it’s a pretty good look for a set piece. There are also some other nice touches from the creative team, Brian Engel’s lighting is solid, and Erica Manzano’s costuming is very good, especially in the varied attire that Beneatha wears, including her brightly colored, and frankly beautifully put together Nigerian outfit that she receives as a gift from friend Asagai. A final creative note here, this on the work of Gin Hammond as the dialect coach for this production. It’s apparent when the work of a good coach is in play, and in A Raisin in the Sun, each of these actors are well prepared to deliver vocally these characters from the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s, in their particular economic position, and the tribal accent from Beneatha’s Nigerian friend Joseph Asagai is just about perfect.

It is the actors, of course, whether it is the dialects that they deliver expertly, or the emotions that they pull from and present, that deserve the credit for what are the best aspects of this play. And as well written as it is, the actors are the ones who make the words mean something more than just letters on the page. As a group, the leads here, the Younger family, work so well together. Arlando Smith and Shermona Mitchell are husband and wife Walter Lee and Ruth, with son Travis, played by Channing Gistarb. There’s a lot to unpack in this relationship alone, on the outside it’s about Walter Lee simply wanting a better life for his son, and Ruth being the long suffering housewife, but what comes to light between the two of them is the high degree of misogyny and the lack of respect that Walter Lee has for his wife, just one of many “colored men” who are “cursed to be married to women with small minds”, his response to her challenges to what he wants to do with the money. Arlando and Shermona are both extremely good here, their marriage is strained as a result of their financial status and from their differing priorities, there’s so much emotion that both of them put into these characters, the hope, the despair, all of it is laid out on the stage so well. At the same time, Deja Culver’s sister Beneatha is a polar opposite, the atheist of the family, the one who doesn’t feel she needs to be restricted by the social and racial limitations of her time, and the only one in the family who sees beyond their existence. Deja is fun to watch in this role, she’s enthusiastic and energetic, and she embodies the heart of the character extremely well. The matriarch, Lena, or “Mama”, played by Marlette Buchanan, is the one whose the money in question really belongs to, but it’s also up to her if she wants to give all of it, or a part of it, to any of her children. She’s a meddler, even though she claims not to be, and she’s the fulcrum on which the family balances. Watching her family seeming to fall apart, one drawn toward money and the other toward a godless existence, she seems helpless to do anything about it. She’s also at the center of a generational conflict, in which she claims that her children don’t appreciate what her ancestors went through to get to where they are, while at the same time her children claim that their mother has no understanding of how the current world works, neither willing to meet in the middle. Marlette carries an authoritative voice with this character, and while her words of wisdom throughout are important, her monologue toward the end of the show, in which she challenges us all not just to consider the actions of a person, but rather look at what they’ve done through love, through the ups and downs of their lives that have led them to a particular action, is the kind of message that sticks with you, it’s so well written and even more impressively delivered.

Aside from the leads, Bretteney has cast a strong supporting group here as well. Most of the characters are utilized by Hansberry as a means to illustrate a part of her underlying messaging, whether it is Joseph Asagai, played masterfully by Dimitri Woods, Beneatha’s Nigerian friend who is in love with her and wants her to be more in touch with her black heritage and not be so much of an “assimilationist”, or the other man who is attracted to her, the wealthy and “fully assimilated” George Murchison, played by Donovan Mahannah. Donovan is dapper, well mannered, and also a bid judgy, and while Walter Lee sees Joseph and the tie to his culture as a reason for his poverty, he also sees George’s wealth and departure from that culture as his way out of it. But it’s Asagai who brings levity, when he challenges Beneatha, asking what kind of a world she is living in when her dreams “depend on the death of a man”. He goes on to discuss his view of time, how some view it as a circle, repeating itself over and over, while he sees it differently, like a curve, that there’s always progress, even when it doesn’t seem so. It’s another important message that Hansberry has put into A Raisin in the Sun that we can all apply to our lives. Rounding out the supporting cast are Tim Gouran as Karl Linder, HOA representative and man who is tasked with asking the Youngers to consider not becoming the one black family in an all-white neighborhood, and Jeffrey Cheatham II as Bobo, one of Walter Lee’s prospective “business partners”. As I said, it’s a supporting cast that’s predominately used to drive home the many messages layered in this wonderfully written play, but each is skillfully presented by an excellent group.

A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play about a family living in the South Side of Chicago and looking forward to an insurance check to help get them out of poverty, is not just a play for and of its time, but is one that is painfully relevant today. At the same time, it’s a piece that shows not only what we’ll do in times of desperation, but also what we’re capable of doing when we come together in love and forgiveness. The mainstage opener of the 2025 season at Taproot Theatre isn’t just another version of this classic play, it’s one that will be hard to match, setting the bar high for the rest of their season. Directed by Bretteney Beverly, this production of A Raisin in the Sun has everything that makes a successful Taproot production, superior acting, excellent design, and an intimate setting that is unique to this venue. With a newly remodeled Jewell Mainstage, including new seats and a new sound system, opening with A Raisin in the Sun just feels like the right decision.

A Raisin in the Sun runs on stage at Taproot Theatre’s Jewell Mainstage in Seattle through April 19. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://taproottheatre.org/.

Photo credit: Robert Wade