Audition Information / Announcements
Auditions: A Raisin in the Sun
Raleigh Little Theatre will be holding auditions for A Raisin in the Sun by Lorriane Hansberry on Monday, February 17th and Tuesday, February 18th with callbacks on Wednesday, February 19th. The production will be directed by Phillip Bernard Smith.
Important dates
Auditions: Monday and Tuesday, February 17th and 18th. Registration from 6:30pm in the Cantey V. Sutton Theatre Lobby. Please sign up for an audition slot on our SignupGenius page.
Callbacks: February 19th at 7:00 pm in the Cantey V. Sutton Theatre.
First cast meeting: March 2nd at Raleigh Little Theatre
No conflicts after March 15th. No more than 5 conflicts for the entire duration of the rehearsal process.
Preview: Thursday, April 9th.
Opening: Friday, April 10th.
Performances: April 10th – April 26th: performances are Thursday through Saturday at 8 pm and Sundays at 3 pm.
Strike: April 26th after the final performance. All actors are expected to participate in strike.
About the show
Set on Chicago’s South Side, the plot revolves around the divergent dreams and conflicts within three generations of the Younger family: son Walter Lee, his wife Ruth, his sister Beneatha, his son Travis, and matriarch Lena. When her deceased husband’s insurance money comes through, Mama Lena dreams of moving to a new home and a better neighborhood in Chicago. Walter Lee, a chauffeur, has other plans: buying a liquor store and being his own man. Beneatha dreams of medical school. The tensions and prejudice they face form this seminal American drama. The Younger family’s heroic struggle to retain dignity in a harsh and changing world is a searing and timeless document of hope and inspiration.
About the roles
If you need any specific accommodations to audition, please contact Artistic Director, Patrick Torres at patrick@nullraleighlittletheatre.org, to request what you need. Examples of accommodations made in the past are: wheelchair accessible audition space, large print materials, prompters in the audition room, volunteers to help fill out forms, and auditions by appointment.
Walter Lee Younger – Walter is a dreamer. He wants to be rich and devises plans to acquire wealth with his friends, particularly Willy Harris. When the play opens, he wants to invest his father’s insurance money in a new liquor store venture. He spends the rest of the play endlessly preoccupied with discovering a quick solution to his family’s various problems.
Beneatha Younger (“Bennie”) – Mama’s daughter and Walter’s sister. Beneatha is an intellectual. Twenty years old, she attends college and is better educated than the rest of the Younger family. Some of her personal beliefs and views have distanced her from conservative Mama. She dreams of being a doctor and struggles to determine her identity as a well-educated black woman.
Lena Younger (“Mama”) – Walter and Beneatha’s mother. The matriarch of the family, Mama is religious, moral, and maternal. She wants to use her husband’s insurance money as a down payment on a house with a backyard to fulfill her dream for her family to move up in the world.
Ruth Younger – Walter’s wife and Travis’s mother. Ruth takes care of the Youngers’ small apartment. Her marriage to Walter has problems, but she hopes to rekindle their love. She is about thirty, but her weariness makes her seem older. Constantly fighting poverty and domestic troubles, she continues to be an emotionally strong woman. Her almost pessimistic pragmatism helps her to survive.
Travis Younger – Walter and Ruth’s sheltered young son. Travis earns some money by carrying grocery bags and likes to play outside with other neighborhood children, but he has no bedroom and sleeps on the living-room sofa.
Joseph Asagai – A Nigerian student in love with Beneatha. Asagai, as he is often called, is very proud of his African heritage, and Beneatha hopes to learn about her African heritage from him. He eventually proposes marriage to Beneatha and hopes she will return to Nigeria with him.
George Murchison – A wealthy, African-American man who courts Beneatha. The Youngers approve of George, but Beneatha dislikes his willingness to submit to white culture and forget his African heritage. He challenges the thoughts and feelings of other black people through his arrogance and flair for intellectual competition.
Mr. Karl Lindner – The only white character in the play. Mr. Lindner arrives at the Youngers’ apartment from the Clybourne Park Improvement Association. He offers the Youngers a deal to reconsider moving into his (all-white) neighborhood.
Bobo – The friend of Walter Lee who, along with another friend, Willy, plans to invest in Walter Lee’s business scheme.
Mrs. Johnson – The Youngers’ neighbor. Mrs. Johnson takes advantage of the Youngers’ hospitality and warns them about moving into a predominantly white neighborhood.
Moving People – Non-speaking roles who show up at the end to help the Youngers move.
About the auditions
Please sign up for an audition slot on our SignupGenius page.
Please prepare a monologue no longer than 90 seconds for the first round of auditions. Please do not choose a monologue from Raisin in the Sun.
Callback list will be posted on the RLT website by Noon on Wednesday, February 19th, and callbacks will be held that evening in the Cantey V. Sutton Theatre.
Audition forms
Interested in auditioning? Here are some forms to fill out and bring with you to auditions:
Contact Patrick Torres at patrick@nullraleighlittletheatre.org with any questions.