Tinuke Craig is to direct a new staging of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, a co-production by Nottingham Playhouse, Headlong, Leeds Playhouse and Lyric Hammersmith Theatre.
A Raisin in the Sun broke barriers as the first play by a black woman to be presented on Broadway. This family drama, which is “full of humour and heart”, remains “relevant and powerful in a world still divided by inequality”.
Craig said, “it’s a privilege to once again work alongside the creative powerhouse Headlong in their 50th year after collaborating on Jitney by August Wilson in 2022 while continuing my ongoing artistic associate role with Lyric Hammersmith Theatre. Now the time is right to bring Lorraine Hansberry’s classic A Raisin in the Sun back to the stage in a relevant, fresh, new production for today.”
Craig’s previous productions include Trouble in Butetown by Diana Nneka Atuona at Donmar Warehouse in 2023, the Leicester Curve and Birmingham Hippodrome production of the musical The Color Purple in 2022 and Sarah Kane’s Crave at Chichester Festival Theatre in 2020.
Nottingham Playhouse artistic director Adam Penford commented, “it's a thrill to be collaborating with Headlong again after the major success of our previous co-production, 1984 (by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan), on both sides of the Atlantic.
“Frequently featured in lists of the best plays ever written, A Raisin in the Sun still resonates powerfully today and Tinuke’s masterful direction will deliver the humour and humanity at the heart of this masterpiece."
A Raisin in the Sun will open at Leeds Playhouse from 13 until 28 September. It will transfer to Oxford Playhouse from 2 until 5 October, Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith from 8 October until 2 November and Nottingham Playhouse from 5 until 16 November.