New Rep Announces Cast & Design Team For A RAISIN IN THE SUN & DIASPORA!

New Repertory Theatre has announced the casts and design team for its upcoming productions of A RAISIN IN THE SUN and DIASPORA!.

The shows will run in repertory, with A Raisin in the Sun beginning its three-week run September 5 through October 1, 2023, and DIASPORA! running from September 12 through October 15, 2023. Both shows will run in the Black Box Theater of the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown, MA.

A Raisin in the Sun, Lorraine Hansberry's groundbreaking drama, directed by Lois Roach, is an American classic, and a searing and timeless portrait of a family on Chicago's South Side. A Raisin in the Sun is an answer to the poem from which the title is derived - Langston Hughes' legendary poem, Harlem. When the Youngers see an opportunity to move to a new neighborhood, each member of the family must answer: What happens to a dream deferred?

DIASPORA! is written by Phaedra Michelle Scott and directed by Pascale Florestal. This production marks its world premiere, having originated as a SpeakEasy Stage commission as part of their Boston Project, developed and workshopped in Boston from 2017-2019. The play follows Sunny, a writer tracing her lineage to find a long-lost grandparent. Aided by her niece, her best friend, and her best friend's new boyfriend, she searches for answers in history. Time begins to cross over, and we find ourselves in Boston during the rise of the civil rights movement and a certain young minister making waves at the Twelfth Baptist Church and Boston University.

The cast of A Raisin in the Sun features:

Lorraine Kanyike

Ruth Younger

Victoria Omoregie

Beneatha Younger

Jon Vellante*

Karl Lindner

Damon Singletary*

Walter Lee Younger

Juanita Rodrigues

Lena Younger

Joshua Olumide*

Asagai

Kadahj Bennett

George

Naheem Garcia

Bobo

TBA

Travis

The cast of DIASPORA! features:

Lorraine Kanyike

Sunny

Victoria Omoregie

Janae

Jae Woo*

John

Sean Patrick Gibbons*

Patrick

Jon Vellante*

Thomas/Robert

Valyn Lyric Turner

Dottie

The Creative and Production Team for the productions also includes:

Elizabeth Ramirez*

Production Stage Manager

Athéna-Gwendolyn Baptiste

Assistant Stage Manager

Janie Howland

Scenic Designer

Lauren Stetson

Lighting Designer

Becca Jewett

Costume Designer

James Cannon

Sound Designer

Diego Farrell

Technical Director

*Member of Actors Equity Association

Full bios are available at Click Here.

A Raisin in the Sun is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals on behalf of Samuel French, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com

New Rep's 2023 Season also features the Tony Award-winning The Normal Heart, written by Larry Kramer, directed by Shira Helena Gitlin, running June 21-July 9, 2023.

Tickets start at $30 for adults and $15 for students and are available at Click Here. All productions will be in the Black Box Theater of the Mosesian Center for the Arts, 321 Arsenal St., Watertown, MA.

New Repertory Theatre (New Rep) has been an award-winning professional theatre company for 39 years, staging productions and events that speak to the vital ideas of our time. New Rep is emerging from the pandemic with a renewed commitment to inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility, and accountability (IDEAA) infusing every aspect of the company's work as it seeks to build community collaborations and give voice to the diverse interests of those communities.

More information on New Repertory Theatre at www.newrep.org.