This Month in Theatre History
From early-1900s Florida to 1930s-era Seattle, theatremakers both practical and idealistic clocked some milestones.
All Stories About Lorraine Hansberry
‘Sign’ of the Times: Lorraine Hansberry’s 2nd Play Gets 2 New Looks
A forgotten chapter of mid-20th-century theatre history is about to be restored, as ‘The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window’ is restaged in Seattle and Brooklyn.
The Play That Got Away: A History of ‘The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window’
Lorraine Hansberry’s long-awaited sophomore effort was greeted coolly, even confusedly, in 1964, but ambivalence—about art, activism, and their fraught intersection—has always been in the play’s DNA.
Rachel Brosnahan Reads the ‘Sign’ in Iris Brustein’s Window
For her first stage role in a while, the ‘Mrs. Maisel’ actor is ready to embrace the role of another imperfect but lovable woman performer in a rocky marriage.
Robert O’Hara Puts Nothing on a Pedestal, Least of All the Canon
This busy writer-director, known for new works, is now staging ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ at the Public, but it’s more a case of continuing a legacy of Black iconoclasm than a new career phase.
Lorraine Hansberry Is Going on Tour
The recent unveiling of Alison Saar’s sculpture ‘To Sit A While’ kicked off a national tour to raise awareness of this great American writer and the many who follow in the path she paved.
Lilly Awards Launches Lorraine Hansberry Initiative
The initiative will honor the pioneering playwright’s legacy with a touring statue and support for the work of multiple female/non-binary playwrights of color.
The Canon, Reloaded: 3 Playwrights Respond to 20th-Century Classics
In riffing on works by Arthur Miller and Lorraine Hansberry, 3 new plays by Kimberly Belflower, Kelundra Smith, and Eleanor Burgess alternately explore and explode what was missing from the originals.
When Lorraine Met Lloyd, and ‘A Raisin in the Sun’ Got Raised
In this excerpt from a new biography, playwright Lorraine Hansberry crosses paths with the director who would help to shape her iconic play.
Contemporary Plays, Teaching From the Page as Well as the Stage
The work of writers like Jackie Sibblies Drury, Annie Baker, and Branden Jacobs-Jenkins is riveting in the theatre, but the rewards of close reading shouldn’t be ignored.
