Interview: Michael Buffong - A Raisin In The Sun
THE Royal Exchange brings its current season to a close with a major revival of iconic American drama A Raisin In The Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, running until February 20, 2010.
The first play written by a black woman to be produced on Broadway – and winner of the prestigious New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award in 1959 – A Raisin In The Sun is set in 1950s Chicago during the early years of the American Civil Rights Movement.
It follows the Younger family as they struggle to find a better lifestyle, recording their frustrations as they try to rise above their lower-class roots and to find success in a predominantly white America despite the racial and social prejudice that continues to weigh them down.
It’s directed by Michael Buffong, whose previous Royal Exchange credits include the M.E.N. Theatre Award-winning Six Degrees Of Separation and All The Ordinary Angels.
In fact, the notion of directing A Raisin In The Sun was originally mooted during the latter, but it is only quite recently that the planets lined up for this production.
“A Raisin In The Sun is basically about everyone’s dreams.”
“It is a play about a family who have inherited ten thousand dollars from the insurance on the father who has recently died – and what that money could do for this family.
“For Walter, the son, the money represents the possibility of going into business and advancing his family that way, whereas for his wife and possibly his mother it’s the possibility of buying a property and getting out of the cramped apartment where so many of them live.
“The play is all about the realisation, or not, of the American Dream of being able to be whatever you want to be.
'American history'
“The play was produced at the very early stages of the Civil Rights movement and it also anticipated in some ways, feminism and black consciousness.
“So Lorraine Hansberry was quite prophetic and talking about some big, important topics. Yet one of the beauties of the play is its domesticity. It starts off with a bit of a domestic row one morning and it’s as simple as that.
“It’s actually a very, very uplifting piece and brilliantly funny,” he emphasises.
“It’s also a production that’s allowed me to do many things I’d always wanted to do, including using the music of Miles Davis.”
American actress Starletta DuPois is making her UK stage debut as matriarch Lena Younger in this production, but she has already starred in an Emmy award-winning TV movie version of the play alongside Danny Glover.
She has had numerous starring roles both on and off Broadway, while her film credits include Waiting to Exhale with Angela Bassett and Whitney Houston and Wolf with Michelle Pfeiffer and Jack Nicholson.
Michael and Royal Exchange casting director Jerry Knight Smith went to America to find her, it turns out.
“We wanted an actress who could bring some of that American history, that black struggle, with them, almost in their bones.
“She’s the heart of the piece and that seemed crucial. So we went to Chicago and New York and within minutes of seeing Starletta, I was convinced that we’d found our Lena.
“I think,” he concludes, “this one of the most exciting, most emotional pieces I’ve ever worked on.”
A Raisin In The Sun is at the Royal Exchange until February 20, 2010. See review at CityLife.co.uk.
Published: Fri, 05 February, 2010
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