‘A Raisin in the Sun’ highlights issues of money, race, ownership
THIS Heritage Month, South African stage and screen actor and director Dr Jerry Mofokeng wa Makhetha, in partnership with the US Mission to South Africa, is bringing to life Lorraine Hansberry’s classic play, A Raisin in the Sun.
The play is set to premiere at the Soweto Theatre on September 11, with double matinee performances during the week.
The title of the play is taken from the poem Harlem by Langston Hughes, “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”
Originally set in the 1950s, A Raisin In The Sun follows a poverty-stricken African American family, who attempt to improve their financial circumstances with an insurance payout following the death of the father.
In the play, everybody is pursuing their dream, based on the insurance payout.
“They probably had these dreams for a long time but right now, Mama wants to buy a bigger house, in a white area. The daughter Beneatha wants to become a medical doctor.
“The son, Walter Lee, has a dream of opening his own business. He doesn’t want to be a chauffeur all his life, he wants to be his own boss,” explains Mofokeng wa Makhetha.
“This is a story of hope, at a time in history when we need it most. It is a story that permits people to dream again. Walter, in the play, maybe is African American, but he is as much African as Steven Biko.
“When you watch the play and remove the places mentioned, it is very much an African play, an African story, an African legacy. But what happens when there’s a clash of dreams?”
Throughout the play, there is an ongoing tension as issues of dreams and selfishness, underpinned by gender, and class and race, arise.
The play features South Africa’s crème de la crème Keketso Semoko, Nathaniel Ramabulana, Xolile Tshabalala and Gerben Kamper in lead roles.
Semoko says she’s humbled by the opportunity to play the powerful role
of Mama yet again.
She took to the stage in what would be one of her first big roles to launch her career in theatre, playing Mama in the Maishe Maponya's stage production of A Raisin in the Sun in the 1992.
“Mama is the anchor of the play as the beneficiary of her late’s estate. She has to keep the dreams of her family together by moving them out of poverty but her son, who has ambitions of being a businessman, blows it all off and thus their their dream of (owning) a own home is deferred again,” says
the former Isidingo star.
She adds: “This timeless play speaks of people’s desire to go forward but poverty and greed keep them in one place. This is very relevant to our people and country, especially now more than ever.”
Commenting on the show, Tshabalala, who plays Ruth, Walter Lee’s wife, says the play ticks all the right boxes of a good story, and will remain relevant for many generations to come.
The former Generations star explains that although the play is based on an
American family, it will resonate with many South Africans.
“There are so many messages in this play, messages about assimilation, racial segregations, love, family dynamics and money. There was a time when black people were moving to the suburbs, white people moved away. And the story is relevant to that,” says Tshabalala.
“The story is also relevant to that a woman can dream to be something bigger, in the case of Beneatha, who wants to become a doctor.
“What touched me the most is the fact that even the simple thing, such as our hair, we assimilate to be something else. We wear wigs thinking that they make us look better and we hide and hate our own natural hair.
“This play has all the right messages. It hits all the right notes about us, about the time that we live in right now.
“There's a message for every generation and I think everybody should watch it and it will be relevant till the end of time.”
Echoing Tshabalala’s statements, Mofokeng wa Makhetha urges everyone to watch the play as it touches on issues of ownership, something many black South Africans should strive for.
“Walter is the epitome of a black man in South Africa with a dream. He says, ’I also want my wife to wear pearls. I also want my children to go to the best schools. I want to wake up in my own bedroom, we’re sharing a bedroom here … ’
“Democracy is here but it’s up to the black man to dream and go for it. The government can open the door but it’s up to the black man to go through that door.
“We are still stuck in that mentality of going to look for a job. We need to adopt a new way of thinking … of wanting to own things and build legacies for future generations.
“We should stop being victims of apartheid. We own our destiny. And we can determine our destiny beyond what apartheid did,” says the legendary theatre maker.
This is not the first time that Mofokeng wa Makhetha will be directing Raisin in The Sun.
“It was around 1993 when I received a call from a theatre in Natal, telling me that they needed a director for an American play,” he recalls. “I have studied American play text because I studied in New York, so they force-feed you these great American texts. So I knew that script. Aah, it was Christmas for me to be given that play. So I went down to KZN and we killed it.”
The production will run at the Soweto Theatre until September 17 before heading to the Kroonstad Civic Theatre, opening on Heritage Day, September 24.