On March 11, 1959, Lorraine Hansberry’s 'A Raisin in the Sun' opened on Broadway and changed the face of American theater forever. As the first-ever black woman to author a play performed on Broadway, she did not shy away from richly drawn characters and unprecedented subject matter. The play attracted record crowds and earned the coveted top prize from the New York Drama Critics’ Circle. While the play is seen as a groundbreaking work of art, the timely story of Hansberry’s life is far less known.
LaTanya Richardson Jackson
as Narrator (voice)
Anika Noni Rose
as Lorraine Hansberry (voice)
Harry Belafonte
as Self
Sidney Poitier
as Self
Glynn Turman
as Self
Louis Gossett Jr.
as Self
Lorraine Hansberry
as Self (archive footage)
Shauneille Perry
as Self
