'A Raisin in the Sun' sets Off-Broadway cast, including Tonya Pinkins

The Public Theater will revive Lorraine Hansberry's play.

Casting has been set for The Public Theater's production of A Raisin in the Sun this fall, directed by Tony Award nominee Robert O'Hara. The Off-Broadway show runs from September 27 to November 6, with opening night on October 19.

Tony Award winner Tonya Pinkins stars as Lena Younger. The stage and screen actress is best known for her Tony-winning role in the musical Jelly's Last Jam. Her other credits include Caroline, or Change and Play On! on Broadway (earning Tony nominations for both) and All My Children, Madam Secretary, Fear the Walking Dead, and Women of the Movement on screen.

Pinkins is joined in the A Raisin in the Sun cast by Francois Battiste as Walter Lee Younger, Paige Gilbert as Beneatha Younger, Mandi Masden as Ruth Younger, Toussaint Battiste and Camden McKinnon as the Travis Younger alternates, John Clay III as Joseph Asagai, Calvin Dutton as Bobo, Mister Fitzgerald as George Murchison, Perri Gaffney as Mrs. Johnson, and Jesse Pennington as Karl Lindner. Skyler Gallun and N'yomi Stewart are understudies.

The creative team has also been set, which includes scenic designer Clint Ramos, costume designer Karen Perry, lighting designer Alex Jainchill, sound designer Elisheba Ittoop, sound system designer Will Pickens, hair and wig designer Nikiya Mathis, video designer Brittany Bland, fight and intimacy director Teniece Divya Johnson, and movement director Rickey Tripp.

Now renowned as a classic American play and the writer's most famous work, Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun centers on the Younger family of Chicago's South Side. It is the mid-1900s, and the Youngers, who are Black, have received a life insurance payment following the death of their patriarch. Lena, the matriarch, wants to use the money to buy a new, bigger house in a better neighborhood — but they face discrimination from their prospective white neighbors. Plus, her son has other ideas about what to do with the money.

This A Raisin in the Sun revival marks the first of Hansberry's plays to be performed at The Public Theater.

Check back for information on A Raisin in the Sun tickets on New York Theatre Guide.