A Raisin in the Sun - ★★★★★ - An exceptional play exceptionally done

Over sixty years later Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun hasn't lost any of its weight and poignancy and this production at Nottingham Playhouse more than does justice.

Opening on a simple set, looking akin to a half-finished build, this space bleeds with possibility - a canvas, potential to grow and move, with semi-transparent windows into the rooms, people, and feelings happening beyond. That feeling of change, and home, continues with soft coloured and lighting and rapid set changes to the sound of rushing inevitability.

Doreene Blackstock's Lena is a force of nature - head of the house, a power not to be reckoned with even when she is tested by the unstoppable force of her children and their non-traditional plans. Solomon Israel's Walter Lee transitions from hard worker, to drunkard, through hope and loss, diminishment and pride, with incredible ease. And Joséphine-Fransilja Brookman throws herself into the role of Beneatha, playing the degrees of determined progressive to acquiescent and back with all the force and joy suitable to her character.

The exploration into roles of gender, ethnicity, culture, and wealth, loses none of its power sixty years on and far from shying away from it this production bares its beating heart for all to see with a rare and exceptional quality.