Alice Childress’s Trouble in Mind made its off-Broadway debut in 1955, but it never made the leap to the Great White Way (emphasis most definitely on “White”). The white producers demanded that Childress give her story about racism in the American theater a happier ending depicting racial harmony. (Pause for irony.) Childress refused at first, […]
Tag: Lorraine Hansberry
It worked!
It was a connect-the-dots moment in Chicago as the following news stories recently broke in rapid succession. Chicago Public School enrollment fell again. It’s now down more than 115,000 students over the last 20 years. There are homeless camps in many parks and under viaducts, including Touhy Park on the far north side. That’s where […]
Writers on the wall
A new exhibit at the American Writers Museum featres prominent and lesser-known Black authors, poets, and journalists.
Tyla Abercrumbie is about more than The Chi
Playwright, actor, director, and artist Tyla Abercrumbie remembers when she was called to theater as clear as day. Blue lights beamed from a ceiling as Alvin Ailey dancers weaved and flowed with silk fabrics, making grade school Tyla feel like she was swimming in an ocean as the company of dancers performed their “Wade in […]
Invictus Theatre brings light and heat to A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry’s classic gets a sturdy and heartfelt revival.
Lit recs to dismantle violence, both the personal and systemic
The current book obsessions of Reader staff writer Maya Dukmasova and activist Mariame Kaba.
Lit recs for the recently repatriated Chicagoan
The current book obsessions of Reader editor in chief Anne Elizabeth Moore and writer, comedian, and artist Salem Collo-Julin.
A Full House musical, Sara Ruhl’s Eurydice, and 11 more new stage shows to see
How about a joyously trashy revival of Porn Minus Porn?
This Friday Black Cinema House presents its first ‘Movies Under Stars’ event of the summer
Noting a free outdoor program hosted by the South Shore arts organization
What happened to A Raisin in the Sun
Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 masterpiece, A Raisin in the Sun, is still a potent indictment.
Best Reminder of How Chicago Got So Segregated
Former home of the Hansberry family
Our Best, Brightest, and Snazziest
Chicago prepares to honor its greatest writers—and dress their heirs.