Charles McNulty, on The Los Angeles Times blog, calls the new production of A Raisin in the Sun at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City "a clear-eyed, emotionally stirring rendition." Says McNulty:

To be honest, I don’t think I could be friends with anyone who wasn’t moved by the ending of this drama, about an African American family’s struggle to leave its dark, run-down apartment on Chicago’s South Side for a bright modest house in an unwelcoming white part of town. And this revival succeeds in my book by passing the lump in the throat test....

But the best thing about this Ebony Repertory Theatre production is the way the warmth of the ensemble radiates the heartfelt message of this timeless and beautiful play.

In the play, a life insurance policy becomes a catalyst that will forever transform the lives of an African-American family living on the south side of Chicago, as they consider buying a house in Clybourne Park. Their shared dream of a better life collides with conflicting aspirations, betrayal, and racism.

Writing of a revival of the play in 1983, Frank Rich of the New York Times said A Raisin in the Sun, "changed American theater forever." In his review, he explains that the play "forced both blacks and whites to re-examine the deferred dreams of black America. She asked blacks to reconsider how those dreams might be defined; she demanded that whites not impede the fulfillment of those dreams for one more second. And she posed all her concerns in a work that portrayed a black family with a greater realism and complexity than had ever been previously seen on an American stage." He goes on to say that the play "sparked the growth of the black theater movement in the 1960's."

A Raisin in the Sun continues at the Kirk Douglas Theatre until February 19. Tickets run from $20 to $50. The Kirk Douglas Theatre is located at 9820 Washington Blvd. Tickets and more information can be obtained online here.