AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE: A RAISIN IN THE SUN {EIGHTH SEASON PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
One in this dramatic anthology series. This award-winning adaptation of Lorraine Hansberry's classic play stars Danny Glover and Esther Rolle as a son and mother, and concerns a black family in 1956 confronting the possibility of achieving the American dream while waiting for a $10,000 insurance check after the death of the father in the family. Conflicts involving ambition, generation gaps, and family obligations arise and threaten to tear the family apart, while mutual respect and dignity are the only hope of keeping it together. The themes of self-liberation and black pride surface throughout the play. The first act reveals the difficulties of life in the ghetto, which the family dreams of leaving behind as they wait for the check. The oldest son, Walter Lee (Glover) wants to use the money to leave his chauffeur job and start a business, daughter Beneatha wants to go to medical school, while the widowed matriarch, Lena (Rolle), would like to use it to finally purchase a little house of her own for the family. In this portion of the program, Walter's wife, Ruth (Starletta DuPois), returns from the doctor in a depressed state about surprise news, and Beneatha (Kim Yancey) recieves a visit from handsome, young Joseph Asagai (Lou Ferguson) from Nigeria.
The family begins to confront each other about their conflicting plans for the money, with Walter determined to start his own business, while the widowed matriarch, Lena, does not understand why her children have placed so much importance on the money as the key to their future. As act one concludes, Walter confesses that his hopes for the future have been tormenting him and learns that Ruth (Starletta DuPois) is pregnant again. In act two, Beneatha (Kim Yancey) wishes to demonstrate her pride in her African heritage and is confused about her relationship with her more conservative beau, George (Joseph Phillips). Discontent with his life, Walter begins to express his bitterness. Lena makes a final decision about what to do with her husband's life insurance money, and the Youngers are visited by "well-meaning" neighbor Mrs. Johnson (Helen Martin) and neighbor-to-be Mr. Linder (John Fielder). In act three, the family re-evaluates their dreams for the future.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: February 1, 1989 Wednesday 8:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 2:56:50
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:23966
- GENRE: Drama
- SUBJECT HEADING: African-American Collection - Drama; Drama
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 1982-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- For "American Playhouse":
- Lindsay Law … Executive Producer
- Roger L. Downey … Coordinating Producer
- Nondas Voll … Associate Producer
- For KCET, Los Angeles:
- Ricki Franklin … Executive Producer
- Samuel J. Paul … Supervising Producer
- For "A Raisin in the Sun"
- Robert Nemiroff … Executive Producer
- Chiz Schultz … Producer
- Steven S. Schwartz … Co-Producer
- Marilyn Larson … Associate Producer
- Bill Duke … Director
- Lorraine Hansberry … Writer
- Ed Bland … Composer
- Danny Glover … Cast, Walter Lee Younger
- Esther Rolle … Cast, Lena Younger
- Starletta DuPois … Cast, Ruth Younger
- Kim Yancey … Cast, Beneatha Younger
- Kimble Joyner … Cast, Travis Younger
- Lou Ferguson … Cast, Joseph Asagai
- Joseph C. Phillips … Cast, George Murchison
- Helen Martin … Cast, Mrs. Johnson
- John Fiedler … Cast, Karl Lindner
- Stephen Henderson … Cast, Bobo
- Ron O.J. Parson … Cast, Moving Man
- Charles Watts … Cast, Moving Man