A Raisin in the Sun is the most famous play by acclaimed African-American playwright Lorraine Hansberry. Hansberry was the first black playwright, and fifth woman, to win Best Play in the New York Drama Critics Circle Awards. Her work was praised by luminaries and black icons of the era, such as James Baldwin and Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The play gave theatergoers of the time arguably the most honest portrayal of the lives of African Americans that had ever been seen on the American stage. Hansberry also received an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay for the film version.
A Raisin in the Sun gave predominantly white theater audiences of the time insight into the...