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June 28, 2007

Crossroads Repertory Theatre presents ‘A Raisin in the Sun’

By Rachel Wedding

TERRE HAUTE — Three Terre Haute residents who are relative newcomers to the theater stage will appear this weekend in the Crossroads Repertory Theatre production of “A Raisin in the Sun.”

The show, chosen by the season’s artistic director Arthur Feinsod as the centerpiece of the summer lineup, is cast with seasoned professionals in leading roles and less experienced actors in the minor roles. Feinsod, who also is directing the play, says he isn’t compromising quality by bringing inexperienced cast members to the stage, in fact, he said one of his goals is to introduce new people to the theater.

It’s all part of his effort this season to “expand the idea of what theater is,” he said.

One of Feinsod’s unseasoned cast members, Monique Mosley, is struggling to find as much faith in her own acting ability as Feinsod has found. The ISU theater graduate student who was raised in Detroit developed a passion for this play at a young age, she said. The play inspired her to develop her talents as a writer. But she didn’t envision herself performing it until Feinsod asked her to audition last fall. Now in the company of very experienced performers, Mosley is determined to bring her best to the play she’s admired for so long. She has prepared herself by working independently with acting coaches in the spring and summer.

“This has stretched me in such a way that I will never be the same,” Mosley said. Her summer acting also has inspired the student playwright to want to make her own writing more “user-friendly,” she said, by challenging audiences and actors to explore unfamiliar ideas.

Another of Feinsod’s casting choices, Terre Haute resident and hair salon owner Jeff Lorick, said while the process of working with this show has been rewarding, it’s equally intimidating.

Lorick made his acting debut last year as part of the cast of “The Exonerated,” presented at Community Theater of Terre Haute. While acting intrigues him, the man who has worked primarily as a hair stylist for 27 years says the subject matter of the play is more appealing to him than performing.

“This is an American story,” he said, “that tells about people in poverty … on the lower edge of society, who are struggling to get out. It transcends color, race and religion. It focuses on their struggle, and any of us can relate to it.”

Some might be familiar with “A Raisin in the Sun” simply as the 1961 movie that established the career of actor Sidney Poitier, who also performed the role of Walter on Broadway.

The play deals with the working-class Younger family in the 1950s as they dream of leaving behind the run-down tenement apartment where they have lived for many years.

When the play opens, the Youngers are about to receive a $10,000 insurance check from the deceased Mr. Younger’s life insurance policy. Each of the family members has an idea about how the money should be spent. Mama (Diane Weaver) wants to buy a house to fulfill a dream she shared with her husband. But Mama’s son, Walter Lee (Michael Cherrie), would rather use the money to invest in a liquor store and solve the family’s financial problems forever. Beneatha (Koqunia Forte), Walter’s sister and Mama’s daughter, wants to use the money for medical school and protests against her mother’s and brother’s desires to join the white world.

As the play progresses, the Youngers clash over their competing dreams until Mama puts a down payment on a house in an entirely white neighborhood. When the Youngers’ future neighbors find out that the Youngers are moving in, they send Mr. Lindner (Peter Papadopoulos) to offer them money to stay away.

The Youngers refuse the deal, even after Walter is swindled out of more than half their insurance settlement. Despite the obstacles, the Youngers move to the suburbs believing they can succeed if they stick together as a family and pursue their dreams.

Lorick, who has served two years on the city of Terre Haute’s Human Relations Commission and is now the commission’s mayoral-appointed interim director, says plays such as “A Raisin in the Sun” make his goal of “bringing groups together in the spirit of unity” easier.

But in order to accomplish that goal, he says people have to move out of their comfort zones. Doing that might mean seeing a play featuring a predominantly black cast, he said.

“We need to understand that segregation is intolerable for everybody,” Lorick said. “If theater can help us do that, l say, let’s use it.”

“A Raisin in the Sun” opens at 7:30 tonight in the ISU New Theater at 540 N. Seventh St. in Terre Haute. Additional evening performances are Saturday, Thursday, and July 7, 11 and 27. A matinee performance is at 4 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $12, or free to ISU students, and may be reserved by telephoning the New Theater ticket office at (812) 237-3333.

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