Who's Who
SEP 13 - OCT 27
Lena Younger (Mama) The matriarch of the Younger family,
Mama is Walter’s and Beneatha’s mother. She is a widow trying to keep her family
tied together. played by LIZ MIKEL (1)
Walter Younger A man with many dreams, Walter is the father of
Act I: 1959
Russ The owner of 406 Clybourne St. in 1959 who has
Travis and husband of Ruth. Walter makes impulsive emotional decisions, and drinks
away his worries. played by BOWMAN WRIGHT (2)
decided to sell the house and move with his wife Bev.
played by CHAMBLEE FERGUSON (11)
Ruth Younger The strong, quiet mother of Travis, and wife of
Bev The wife of Russ, Bev is often unaware of the impact of her words
Travis Younger An average ten-year-old boy with
Jim The sometimes overbearing preacher for the Clybourne Park
Beneatha YounGER Walter’s sister Beneatha is a proudly
Karl LindNer (also in A Raisin in the Sun): The leader
of the Clybourne Park Improvement Association. He has just visited the
Younger family regarding their interest in moving to the neighborhood.
played by STEVEN MICHAEL WALTERS (14)
Walter. Ruth has a sense of pride and dignity, yet is naïve about other race’s
views of African-Americans. played by PTOSHA STOREY (3)
and actions. She supports the new family coming in no matter their race.
played by SALLY NYSTUEN VAHLE (12)
community.
aspirations of being a bus driver one day. Travis is hardworking and playful.
played by CHRISTOPHER ADKINS (4) and JUSTISE MAON (5)
educated woman who is firm on teaching African-Americans about their history.
TIFFANY HOBBS (6)
played by
played by
JACOB STEWART (13)
BetsY The somewhat naïve wife of Karl, Betsy is deaf and very
Joseph Asagai A fellow student of Beneatha’s at college, Asagai is
from Africa and he shares a general disdain for all the blacks in America who conform
to what white people want. played by JAKEEM POWELL (7)
pregnant.
George Murchison A very wealthy African-American friend of
She values her dignity.
Beneatha’s who tries to win her over romantically.
played by
OluWAseun sOyemi (8)
Karl LindNer A white representative from the Clybourne Park
Improvement Association.
played by
STEVEN MICHAEL WALTERS (9)
Bobo Walter’s friend and business partner.
1
2
3
played by
HASSAN EL-AMIN (10)
4
5
WYLY THEATRE
played by
ALLISON PISTORIOUS (15)
A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, has
been called “The play that changed America forever.”
The play follows an African-American family—the
Youngers—as they try to escape the poverty of the
south side of Chicago and their cramped, dilapidated
apartment for a better life in the white suburbs. A Raisin
in the Sun is unflinching in its vision of what happens
to people whose dreams are constantly deferred.
Nominated for four Tony Awards®, A Raisin in the Sun
was the first play by an African-American woman to
open on Broadway, and the first Broadway play to be
directed by an African-American (Lloyd Richards).
Written as a response to A Raisin in the Sun, Tony-Award©
and Pulitzer-Prize winning Clybourne Park by Bruce
Norris, gives us a glimpse of the other side of the story
told by Lorraine Hansberry. Set in two acts, fifty years
apart, we see the house the Younger family longed to
move into in a white suburban neighborhood. We meet
the family who offered to sell the house to the Youngers
and see the aftermath of those negotiations 50 years
later. Clybourne Park is an in-your-face conversation
about race, real estate and the volatile values of each.
Francine The African-American maid for Bev and Russ.
Albert
racial tension.
played by
TIFFANY HOBBS (16)
The husband of Francine, Albert is sometimes unaware of
HASSAN EL-AMIN (17)
played by
Act II: 2009
Steve The new white owner of 406 Clybourne St. who wants to tear down
the house and build a new one.
played by
STEVEN MICHAEL WALTERS (18)
Lindsey The white, pregnant wife of Steve.
played by
ALLISON PISTORIOUS (19)
Kathy A white real estate lawyer hired to help the renovation
process on 406 Clybourne St. played by SALLY NYSTUEN VAHLE (20)
6, 16, 22
7
8
9, 14, 18
By
BRUCE NORRIS
Directed by
JOeL FERRELL
By
LORRAINE
HANSBERRY
Directed by
TRe GARRETT
10, 17, 23
The Hansberry family home at 6140
S. Rhodes Ave. in the Woodlawn
neighborhood of Chicago. Hansberry's
experiences living in this now historic
house were the inspiration for her play,
A Raisin in a Sun. And, it's a house
such as this that inspired Bruce Norris'
response, Clybourne Park.
Tom A white member of the Owner’s Association leading the meeting
concerning the renovations.
played by
JACOB STEWART (21)
Lena The African-American niece of the first black woman who
moved to Clybourne Park in 1959, Lena wants to preserve the building.
TIFFANY HOBBS (22)
played by
11, 24
12, 20
13, 21
15, 19
Kevin The African-American husband of Lena, he knows how to play
the political game of race.
Dan
played by
played by
HASSAN EL-AMIN (23)
A white workman installing pipeline behind the house.
CHAMBLEE FERGUSON (24)
According to the 1950
census, nationally:
African-American men earned, on average,
.59¢ to every $1 a white man earned.
African-American men earned, on average,
$1,761 annually, while white men earned
$2,985 annually on average.
African-American women earned, on average,
.56¢ to every $1 a white woman earned.
African-American women earned, on average,
$992 annually, while white women earned
$1,782 annually on average.
According to the 1960
census (one year after the
fictional Clybourne Park’s
first act):
in Chicago, 76.4% of the population was
white, 22.9% was black. By 2009 that ratio had
changed to 33.3% white and 32.8% black
(with the remainder a mix of races).
In 2006, nationally:
the median household income for AfricanAmericans was $30,134; for Hispanics
$34,241; for White, non-Hispanics
$48,977; and for Asians $57,518.
Dallas Theater Center would like to recognize the generosity of our major corporate partners.
Neiman Marcus Pier 1® Target Southwest Securities, Inc.
Haynes and Boone, LLP
Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP
Stay Connected
the StudyGuide
2013
2014
Season
A Note from Dallas Theater Center’s
Artistic Director,
Lorraine Vivian Hansberry was born on May 19, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois to Carl Augustus Hansberry,
a successful real-estate broker, and Nannie Louise Perry, a school teacher. In 1938, Hansberry’s father
purchased a house on the south side of Chicago in the Washington Park subdivision — an all white neighborhood
— violating a “restrictive covenant” (a type of contract that prohibited an owner of property from reselling,
leasing or transferring the property to members of a given race). The tumult from the Hansberry family's
move to the subdivision led to the Supreme Court decision of Hansberry v. Lee which reversed previous
unsuccessful lawsuits by African-Americans, and determined that restrictive covenants were not a private
property matter and could be fought in court. This decision paved the way for the Supreme Court decision
of Shelley v. Kraemer which determined that the enforcement of such racially-based restrictive covenants
would require the support of law enforcement and the State and is therefore subject to the Bill of Rights,
including the First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. These decisions paved the way for the desegregation
of neighborhoods across the country.
After high school, Hansberry briefly attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but finding college
uninspiring, dropped out and moved to New York City to pursue a career as a writer. While attending The
New School she worked at the black newspaper Freedom alongside W. E. B. DuBois (one of the co-founders
of the NAACP). It was in this time and place that Hansberry wrote A Raisin in the Sun.
In 1959, her play debuted making her the first African-American woman
to be produced on Broadway and, at 29 years old, the youngest
American playwright and only the fifth woman to receive the
New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play. During
her career, Lorraine Hansberry wrote essays, articles
and plays addressing a myriad of social and racial issues
from feminism and racism to homophobia. She died of
pancreatic cancer on January 12, 1965, at age 34.
In 1959, Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun heralded an
age of racial integration in America’s cities, as blacks moved into
neighborhoods previously denied to them. And yet, as soon as all-white
neighborhoods began to become integrated, “white flight” began. In
many cities, over the course of the 1960s and '70s, the dream of a
fully integrated America began to disintegrate. As white people fled to
the suburbs, economic resources were shifted away from the cities,
resulting in the poverty, crime, drugs and neglect the followed.
By 2009, fifty years after Hansberry’s groundbreaking play premiered,
American cities had changed again, with many of the now all-black
neighborhoods slowly being “gentrified.” The sprouting up of Whole Foods
and Starbucks in blighted urban neighborhoods signaled the return of
prosperous white families who were reclaiming inner city neighborhoods
as their own, often resulting in a new wave of de-facto segregation.
Even as Americans were celebrating the signs of racial progress
heralded by the 2008 inauguration of Barack Obama as the first
African-American president, others were asking: what are we to
make of these ongoing patterns of racial migration to and from inner
city neighborhoods? Are these signs of hopeful change, or are they
yet another example of “a dream deferred?”
In
Clybourne
Bruce
the
and
have
a Dream Deferred
great
Norris
changes
occurred
What happens to a dream deferred?
BRUCE Norris
sees
that
culturally
but he also sees that many
Americans remain deeply
uncomfortable addressing ongoing racial
tensions. He portrays characters who hide
behind politically correct conversations that
barely cover up, but don’t resolve, the deeply
embedded challenges of the racial divide.
Seen together, A Raisin in the Sun and
Clybourne Park are studies in hope and
langston hughes
(1902-1967)
despair, change and stasis, the past and
the present, and the great complexities at
the heart of each individual. Though each
play stands firmly on its own as a great
Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.
work of art, I hope you will see these plays
in relation to each other, sparking a richer,
more complicated dialogue that will extend
lorraine hansberry (1930-1965)
Or does it explode?
What’s in a Word?
Gentrification is a term
applied to the economic and
social changes that occur when
wealthier citizens move into an
urban area, usually increasing rent
and property values as well as
changing the demographics of the
area’s residents. The word is usually
used in a negative way, because
the changes often force poorer,
long-time residents who cannot
afford the increasing costs of living
to move away. Gentrification has
gained momentum in recent years
because of a renewed interest
in urban living as well as “fixing”
older properties as investment
opportunities. As is the case
in Clybourne Park, historical
landmarks can also be removed or
altered to increase property values
by renovators who are not familiar
with the cultural significance of
such buildings.
Park,
and politically since 1959,
Lorraine Hansberry took the title of her play from a poem by
Langston Hughes. Originally titled “Harlem”, the poem later
became known as “A Dream Deferred”:
Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over—
Like a syrupy sweet?
Kevin Moriarty
beyond a single evening at the theater.
Tying the
Plays
to Our
Community
Taken together, A Raisin
in the Sun and Clybourne
Park tell the story of
one neighborhood and
its changing racial and
economic demographics
over time. The same story
can be told in our community
in North Texas. Where is
your neighborhood in the
arc of the story? In which
neighborhoods do you see
individuals of different races
moving in and seeking the
American Dream? In which
neighborhoods do you see
people struggling with that
dream deferred?
The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava connects West Dallas with the
Woodall Rogers Freeway. Business and civic leaders hope the bridge will help spur economic
development in West Dallas and help to bring people down to the river while also fostering unity
within the north and south divide in the City.
A Note from Dallas Theater Center’s
Artistic Director,
Lorraine Vivian Hansberry was born on May 19, 1930 in Chicago, Illinois to Carl Augustus Hansberry,
a successful real-estate broker, and Nannie Louise Perry, a school teacher. In 1938, Hansberry’s father
purchased a house on the south side of Chicago in the Washington Park subdivision — an all white neighborhood
— violating a “restrictive covenant” (a type of contract that prohibited an owner of property from reselling,
leasing or transferring the property to members of a given race). The tumult from the Hansberry family's
move to the subdivision led to the Supreme Court decision of Hansberry v. Lee which reversed previous
unsuccessful lawsuits by African-Americans, and determined that restrictive covenants were not a private
property matter and could be fought in court. This decision paved the way for the Supreme Court decision
of Shelley v. Kraemer which determined that the enforcement of such racially-based restrictive covenants
would require the support of law enforcement and the State and is therefore subject to the Bill of Rights,
including the First, Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. These decisions paved the way for the desegregation
of neighborhoods across the country.
After high school, Hansberry briefly attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison, but finding college
uninspiring, dropped out and moved to New York City to pursue a career as a writer. While attending The
New School she worked at the black newspaper Freedom alongside W. E. B. DuBois (one of the co-founders
of the NAACP). It was in this time and place that Hansberry wrote A Raisin in the Sun.
In 1959, her play debuted making her the first African-American woman
to be produced on Broadway and, at 29 years old, the youngest
American playwright and only the fifth woman to receive the
New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play. During
her career, Lorraine Hansberry wrote essays, articles
and plays addressing a myriad of social and racial issues
from feminism and racism to homophobia. She died of
pancreatic cancer on January 12, 1965, at age 34.
In 1959, Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun heralded an
age of racial integration in America’s cities, as blacks moved into
neighborhoods previously denied to them. And yet, as soon as all-white
neighborhoods began to become integrated, “white flight” began. In
many cities, over the course of the 1960s and '70s, the dream of a
fully integrated America began to disintegrate. As white people fled to
the suburbs, economic resources were shifted away from the cities,
resulting in the poverty, crime, drugs and neglect the followed.
By 2009, fifty years after Hansberry’s groundbreaking play premiered,
American cities had changed again, with many of the now all-black
neighborhoods slowly being “gentrified.” The sprouting up of Whole Foods
and Starbucks in blighted urban neighborhoods signaled the return of
prosperous white families who were reclaiming inner city neighborhoods
as their own, often resulting in a new wave of de-facto segregation.
Even as Americans were celebrating the signs of racial progress
heralded by the 2008 inauguration of Barack Obama as the first
African-American president, others were asking: what are we to
make of these ongoing patterns of racial migration to and from inner
city neighborhoods? Are these signs of hopeful change, or are they
yet another example of “a dream deferred?”
In
Clybourne
Bruce
the
and
have
a Dream Deferred
great
Norris
changes
occurred
What happens to a dream deferred?
BRUCE Norris
sees
that
culturally
but he also sees that many
Americans remain deeply
uncomfortable addressing ongoing racial
tensions. He portrays characters who hide
behind politically correct conversations that
barely cover up, but don’t resolve, the deeply
embedded challenges of the racial divide.
Seen together, A Raisin in the Sun and
Clybourne Park are studies in hope and
langston hughes
(1902-1967)
despair, change and stasis, the past and
the present, and the great complexities at
the heart of each individual. Though each
play stands firmly on its own as a great
Maybe it just sags like a heavy load.
work of art, I hope you will see these plays
in relation to each other, sparking a richer,
more complicated dialogue that will extend
lorraine hansberry (1930-1965)
Or does it explode?
What’s in a Word?
Gentrification is a term
applied to the economic and
social changes that occur when
wealthier citizens move into an
urban area, usually increasing rent
and property values as well as
changing the demographics of the
area’s residents. The word is usually
used in a negative way, because
the changes often force poorer,
long-time residents who cannot
afford the increasing costs of living
to move away. Gentrification has
gained momentum in recent years
because of a renewed interest
in urban living as well as “fixing”
older properties as investment
opportunities. As is the case
in Clybourne Park, historical
landmarks can also be removed or
altered to increase property values
by renovators who are not familiar
with the cultural significance of
such buildings.
Park,
and politically since 1959,
Lorraine Hansberry took the title of her play from a poem by
Langston Hughes. Originally titled “Harlem”, the poem later
became known as “A Dream Deferred”:
Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore—
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over—
Like a syrupy sweet?
Kevin Moriarty
beyond a single evening at the theater.
Tying the
Plays
to Our
Community
Taken together, A Raisin
in the Sun and Clybourne
Park tell the story of
one neighborhood and
its changing racial and
economic demographics
over time. The same story
can be told in our community
in North Texas. Where is
your neighborhood in the
arc of the story? In which
neighborhoods do you see
individuals of different races
moving in and seeking the
American Dream? In which
neighborhoods do you see
people struggling with that
dream deferred?
The Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava connects West Dallas with the
Woodall Rogers Freeway. Business and civic leaders hope the bridge will help spur economic
development in West Dallas and help to bring people down to the river while also fostering unity
within the north and south divide in the City.
Who's Who
SEP 13 - OCT 27
Lena Younger (Mama) The matriarch of the Younger family,
Mama is Walter’s and Beneatha’s mother. She is a widow trying to keep her family
tied together. played by LIZ MIKEL (1)
Walter Younger A man with many dreams, Walter is the father of
Act I: 1959
Russ The owner of 406 Clybourne St. in 1959 who has
Travis and husband of Ruth. Walter makes impulsive emotional decisions, and drinks
away his worries. played by BOWMAN WRIGHT (2)
decided to sell the house and move with his wife Bev.
played by CHAMBLEE FERGUSON (11)
Ruth Younger The strong, quiet mother of Travis, and wife of
Bev The wife of Russ, Bev is often unaware of the impact of her words
Travis Younger An average ten-year-old boy with
Jim The sometimes overbearing preacher for the Clybourne Park
Beneatha YounGER Walter’s sister Beneatha is a proudly
Karl LindNer (also in A Raisin in the Sun): The leader
of the Clybourne Park Improvement Association. He has just visited the
Younger family regarding their interest in moving to the neighborhood.
played by STEVEN MICHAEL WALTERS (14)
Walter. Ruth has a sense of pride and dignity, yet is naïve about other race’s
views of African-Americans. played by PTOSHA STOREY (3)
and actions. She supports the new family coming in no matter their race.
played by SALLY NYSTUEN VAHLE (12)
community.
aspirations of being a bus driver one day. Travis is hardworking and playful.
played by CHRISTOPHER ADKINS (4) and JUSTISE MAON (5)
educated woman who is firm on teaching African-Americans about their history.
TIFFANY HOBBS (6)
played by
played by
JACOB STEWART (13)
BetsY The somewhat naïve wife of Karl, Betsy is deaf and very
Joseph Asagai A fellow student of Beneatha’s at college, Asagai is
from Africa and he shares a general disdain for all the blacks in America who conform
to what white people want. played by JAKEEM POWELL (7)
pregnant.
George Murchison A very wealthy African-American friend of
She values her dignity.
Beneatha’s who tries to win her over romantically.
played by
OluWAseun sOyemi (8)
Karl LindNer A white representative from the Clybourne Park
Improvement Association.
played by
STEVEN MICHAEL WALTERS (9)
Bobo Walter’s friend and business partner.
1
2
3
played by
HASSAN EL-AMIN (10)
4
5
WYLY THEATRE
played by
ALLISON PISTORIOUS (15)
A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry, has
been called “The play that changed America forever.”
The play follows an African-American family—the
Youngers—as they try to escape the poverty of the
south side of Chicago and their cramped, dilapidated
apartment for a better life in the white suburbs. A Raisin
in the Sun is unflinching in its vision of what happens
to people whose dreams are constantly deferred.
Nominated for four Tony Awards®, A Raisin in the Sun
was the first play by an African-American woman to
open on Broadway, and the first Broadway play to be
directed by an African-American (Lloyd Richards).
Written as a response to A Raisin in the Sun, Tony-Award©
and Pulitzer-Prize winning Clybourne Park by Bruce
Norris, gives us a glimpse of the other side of the story
told by Lorraine Hansberry. Set in two acts, fifty years
apart, we see the house the Younger family longed to
move into in a white suburban neighborhood. We meet
the family who offered to sell the house to the Youngers
and see the aftermath of those negotiations 50 years
later. Clybourne Park is an in-your-face conversation
about race, real estate and the volatile values of each.
Francine The African-American maid for Bev and Russ.
Albert
racial tension.
played by
TIFFANY HOBBS (16)
The husband of Francine, Albert is sometimes unaware of
HASSAN EL-AMIN (17)
played by
Act II: 2009
Steve The new white owner of 406 Clybourne St. who wants to tear down
the house and build a new one.
played by
STEVEN MICHAEL WALTERS (18)
Lindsey The white, pregnant wife of Steve.
played by
ALLISON PISTORIOUS (19)
Kathy A white real estate lawyer hired to help the renovation
process on 406 Clybourne St. played by SALLY NYSTUEN VAHLE (20)
6, 16, 22
7
8
9, 14, 18
By
BRUCE NORRIS
Directed by
JOeL FERRELL
By
LORRAINE
HANSBERRY
Directed by
TRe GARRETT
10, 17, 23
The Hansberry family home at 6140
S. Rhodes Ave. in the Woodlawn
neighborhood of Chicago. Hansberry's
experiences living in this now historic
house were the inspiration for her play,
A Raisin in a Sun. And, it's a house
such as this that inspired Bruce Norris'
response, Clybourne Park.
Tom A white member of the Owner’s Association leading the meeting
concerning the renovations.
played by
JACOB STEWART (21)
Lena The African-American niece of the first black woman who
moved to Clybourne Park in 1959, Lena wants to preserve the building.
TIFFANY HOBBS (22)
played by
11, 24
12, 20
13, 21
15, 19
Kevin The African-American husband of Lena, he knows how to play
the political game of race.
Dan
played by
played by
HASSAN EL-AMIN (23)
A white workman installing pipeline behind the house.
CHAMBLEE FERGUSON (24)
According to the 1950
census, nationally:
African-American men earned, on average,
.59¢ to every $1 a white man earned.
African-American men earned, on average,
$1,761 annually, while white men earned
$2,985 annually on average.
African-American women earned, on average,
.56¢ to every $1 a white woman earned.
African-American women earned, on average,
$992 annually, while white women earned
$1,782 annually on average.
According to the 1960
census (one year after the
fictional Clybourne Park’s
first act):
in Chicago, 76.4% of the population was
white, 22.9% was black. By 2009 that ratio had
changed to 33.3% white and 32.8% black
(with the remainder a mix of races).
In 2006, nationally:
the median household income for AfricanAmericans was $30,134; for Hispanics
$34,241; for White, non-Hispanics
$48,977; and for Asians $57,518.
Dallas Theater Center would like to recognize the generosity of our major corporate partners.
Neiman Marcus Pier 1® Target Southwest Securities, Inc.
Haynes and Boone, LLP
Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP
Stay Connected
the StudyGuide
2013
2014
Season