The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre is named after the acclaimed playwright of "A Raisin in the Sun". She wrote the play while living in Bay Area. Since being founded in 1981, The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre has mounted productions that have included performances by Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Danny Glover and Ntozake Shange. The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre is the first African-American arts institution to be located in downtown San Francisco. For 30 years, The Lorraine Hansberry Theatre has celebrated the African-American experience - an American experience - on stage in the San Francisco Bay Area. Described as the
A Raisin in the Sun a bombing. Her lines are employed as comic relief, but Hansberry also uses this scene to mock those who are too scared to stand up for their rights. In the introduction by Robert B. Nemiroff he writes that the scene is included in print because it draws attention away from a seemingly happy ending to a more violent reality inspired by Hansberry's own experiences. Experiences in this play echo a lawsuit ("Hansberry v. Lee", 311 U.S. 32 (1940)), to which the playwright Lorraine Hansberry's family was a party when they fought to have their day in court because a previous