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Best known for 'A Raisin in the Sun', playwright Lorraine Hansberry also penned this searing look at an African country on the edge of civil war.
Lorraine Hansberry inspired Nina Simone to sing "To be young, gifted and black" thanks to the virtuoso talent she portrayed in her first play, 'A Raisin in the Sun', a tightly woven drama looking at the corrosive effect of racism on one family's dreams. In 'Les Blancs', her lesser known final play, she casts her net wider, in a drama that explores the origins and decay of English colonialism in Africa.
This production will mark the National Theatre debut of acclaimed director Yael Farber, whose 'Mies Julie' was an ingenious reworking of Strindberg's classic class satire, adapted to explore racial tensions in modern South Africa. He's taking a similarly radical approach to Hansberry's work, using a text adapted by Robert Nemiroff, and a bold setting by designer Soutra Gilmour.
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COMPETITION: Win 1x pair of tickets to attend Lorraine Hansberry: Les Blancs at National Theatre at 19:30, Saturday 7th May. To enter the competition, send an email to ava@run-riot.com with the correct answer in the ‘subject’ line. The winner will be randomly selected.
Q: Les Blancs debuted on Broadway in 1970. Hansberry considered the play to be potentially her most important work. The title is a reference to Jean Genet's play The Blacks: A Clown Show. That aside, it’s said that Hansberry inspired one of Nina Simone's better known songs? Which song is it?
A: .1) Feelin’ Good .2) Mississippi Goddam .3) To Be Young, Gifted and Black .4) Backlash Blues