The groundbreaking commercial stature of the late Lorraine Hansberry's 1959 drama of one African-American family on the South Side of Chicago can obscure the humanity and vitality of its dramaturgy. When properly approached, Hansberry's magnum opus ranks with the most enduring Golden Age classics, exactly what its vibrant Ebony Repertory Theatre realization delivers.
Despite the property's old-school length, it unfolds here on the script's natural rhythms, never boring, consistently engrossing, under the perceptive, light-handed stewardship of director Phylicia Rashad—who played matriarch Lena Younger in the 2004 Broadway revival. Credit the magnificent cast, as emotionally attuned and keenly balanced an ensemble as any the season has yet enjoyed. The redoubtable L. Scott Caldwell reinvents Lena from the inside out, with preternatural resources of humor, authority, and pathos. Pitted against this force-of-nature turn, Kevin Carroll plays son Walter Lee as if from his nerve endings—a potent, unpredictable interpretation that bears comparisons to originator Sidney Poitier's.
Deidrie Henry, apparently incapable of a false note, brings his bone-weary wife, Ruth, to palpable, deeply affecting life. Kenya Alexander has a mercurial field day as sister Beneatha, the voice of 20th-century progress, while Brandon David Brown's unaffected skill at listening and reacting serves grandson Travis beautifully. Amad Jackson and Jason Dirden are ideal in persona and attack as Beneatha's contrasting suitors. Ellis E. Williams makes every second count as Walter Lee's crony, and Scott Mosenson underplays the nervous bigotry of white suburban Mr. Lindner with precision.
Designer Michael Ganio's detailed set, costumer Ruth E. Carter's era clothing, Elizabeth Harper's restrained lighting, and Bob Blackburn's subtle sound are effective without intruding on the truth. That typifies the whole show. No less a stage chronicler of the African-American experience than the late, great August Wilson famously took issue with "Raisin in the Sun." He might have re-evaluated Hansberry's still-trenchant masterwork in the face of this gorgeously full-hearted revival. Don't miss it.
Presented by Ebony Repertory Theatre at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center, 4718 W. Washington Blvd., L.A. Mar. 25–Apr. 17. Thu.–Fri., 8 p.m.; Sat., 2 & 8 p.m.; Sun., 3 p.m. (323) 964-9766. www.ebonyrep.org.