The Black Playwright Who Transformed Theater

Imani Perry introduces us to A Raisin in the Sun, the first show ever staged on Broadway written by a black woman – and the show’s legendary playwright, Lorraine Hansberry.

In Looking for Lorraine: The Radiant and Radical Life of Lorraine Hansberry, author Imani Perry pays tribute to one of the most pivotal Black playwrights in modern history.

In Perry's 2018 biography of Lorraine Hansberry, we meet a talented writer whose mainstream success with A Raisin In The Sun often overshadows her strategic and radical work as an artist and progressive thinker. That renowned play has returned to The Public Theater and Imani Perry joins host Kai Wright to explore how Hansberry and the story of the Younger family shaped the landscape of theater.

Companion listening for this episode:

Lynn Nottage: Unexpected Optimist (1/3/2022)

Playwright Lynn Nottage breaks down her remarkable career and shares how, as an optimist at heart, she finds the light and resilience in unexpected stories.

“Notes from America” airs live on Sunday evenings at 6pm ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts. To catch all the action, tune into the show on Sunday nights via the stream on notesfromamerica.org or on WNYC’s YouTube channel.

 

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Notes from America airs live on Sundays at 6 p.m. ET. The podcast episodes are lightly edited from our live broadcasts.