Bay Street Theater to Screen A RAISIN IN THE SUN

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts announces the film screening of A Raisin in the Sun(1961) on Sunday, October 20 at 2 pm. It is the sixtieth anniversary of the play's first production on Broadway. The film is an adaptation of the play by Lorraine Hansberry. Bay Street Theater will present a live staged version as the 2019 Literature Live! production in November.

The film stars Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, Roy Glenn, and Louis Gosset Jr. in his film debut. Lorraine Hansberry wrote the ground-breaking play A Raisin in the Sun in 1958 and won a Pulitzer Prize. She also wrote the screenplay.

The story focuses on the Younger family, an African-American family who lives on the Southside of Chicago in an apartment tenement. The hope of escape from the suffocating tenement comes in the form of a $10,000 insurance check courtesy of the family's deceased patriarch. Each member of the Younger family has their own version of the American Dream that the insurance money could fulfill: Lena, the mother, wants to purchase a house in the all- white neighborhood of Clybourne Park, Walter Lee, the son, wants to invest in a liquor store, Ruth, his wife, simply wants their child Travis to have his own room, while Beneatha, Walter's sister, wants to become a doctor. The Younger family eventually unify their dreams and take on the racist and segregationist policies of the time in a transcendent climax.

Following the screening will be a Talkback Session with Allen O'Reilly, Director of Education and Community Outreach for Bay Street Theater and others to be announced. Ticket holders are invited to stay for the Talkback. Patron-level donors may attend this event and Talkback by reserving a complimentary seat by calling the Development Department at 631-725-0818. Non patrons can find out more on how to become a Patron-level donor by logging on to www.baystreet.org/support/become-a-member.

Tickets for the film and Talkback are $12 and are on sale online at baystreet.org, or by calling the Box Office at 631-725-9500.

Bay Street Theater & Sag Harbor Center for the Arts is a year-round, not-for-profit professional theater and community cultural center which endeavors to innovate, educate, and entertain a diverse community through the practice of the performing arts. It serves as a social and cultural gathering place, an educational resource, and a home for a community of artists.

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