When looking at A Raisin In The Sun we must take first the world of the play, and the story it tells. First of all, I cannot justify doing any non-traditional casting of race because this play is so based on the society of the time. The fight for dreams and reaching goals is certainly a universal idea, however, we undeniably see that the Younger family must be African American due to the set-up and many lines of the play. They reference their race a majority of the time, “-and all I got to give him is stories about how rich white people live…” (Hansberry 22). While the playwright doesn’t necessarily treat this family differently than anyone who has dreams and desires, she does expressly make them black because that was her struggle, and what she wanted to get across. Likewise, Karl Linder has to be white. The simplest definition and reason goes back to the basic idea of plot; the struggle of these people in this time. The reason Linder must be white is the references, as well as, again, the time. At the time, in the neighborhood, and most of America, people were still warming up and getting used to the idea of integration, therefore white people still ‘ruled’ most of the towns – especially in the urban and metropolitan areas.
Gender specificity is also very crucial in this piece; the cast must reflect the gender as written. Of course, Walter, Ruth, Mama, and Beneatha are undeniably gender locked, the role of Travis would be the only one possibly debatable. My answer to this is that at the end of the play, Walter ‘mans up’ and tells Karl that they are moving into the house. He would have no reason to do this if he had a daughter, at least not in this way. Through the play Mama compares Walter to his father and tells him that he needs to show Travis how to be a man, how to try and provide for his family and make decisions that will improve their standing.
When discussing age, we have to look at the generational differences in the family. You have three different generations, and a few different opportunities occurring. Age has to be present, however casting a younger woman to play Mama, for example, may not be a bad thing. The African America race, in general, tend to age well, even more for Mama. She has the grace, poise, and the look of someone who came from her generation. While the world has beaten her down, she has kept this vague happiness that she's still living. If someone were to cast a 'younger' woman to play this part and put some age make-up on her, it would not, by any means, degrade the intent or change the character. As for everyone else, age is important, however there is some play room with Walter, Ruth, and Beneatha. They are all around the same age, but they may not have all aged the same. Karl is a man that needs to look a little younger than Walter and Ruth especially, and maybe even Beneatha. This exhibits the ethnocentric view of the white people of the time. Having a young man talking to this family in this manner adds more to the action and overall view of the play.
When it comes to any sort of disability, I’m not sure that I can justify casting anyone who is physically incapable of doing basic things. Being slightly vision or hearing impaired may be okay. However, this family makes their living by cooking, driving, cleaning, baby sitting, et cetera; therefore, the persons of the household cannot be physically incapable of performing tasks such as these. It's hard for this family and this minority to get jobs, much less if they have a disability of some kind.
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