In 2016, London's National Theatre revived Lorraine Hansberry’s unfinished, ambitious drama about African politics, Les Blancs (The Whites), at the Olivier Theatre and directed by the South African Yael Farber (watch a short video trailer here).
Hansberry’s biographer, Margaret Wilkerson, says Les Blancs has plenty of relevance today as it looks at racial tensions in Africa just as the underpinnings of colonialism are starting to shift.
On April 23, 1995, as a new Fellow, Margaret Wilkerson delivered the lecture “Lorraine Hansberry: The Making of A Woman of the Theatre” to the College of Fellows of the American Theatre at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.
Dr. Wilkerson reads an excerpt from her 1995 manuscript:
Co-presented by the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture and the Lorraine Hansberry Literary Trust
WHEN
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Panel Discussion 6:30–8:00pm
Public Reception 8:00–9:00pm
WHERE
Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, 515 Malcolm X Blvd (135th St and Malcolm X Blvd), New York, NY, 10037
This is a free event but as space is limited, please RSVP here.
Seat reservations begin on Thursday March 8, 2018!
In September 2017, the first-ever feature documentary, Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, screened at the Toronto Film Festival; in January 2018, the film makes its television debut as part of the American Masters PBS series. Throughout 2018, the film will be joined by a number of new print biographies.
On Friday, January 19, the national broadcast premier of Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, the first-ever feature documentary about Lorraine Hansberry, will be televised on PBS stations across the United States as part of their American Masters series (9pm EST on PBS; check local listings for more details).
On January 18, 2018, the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture of the New York Public Library will present, in partnership with American Masters PBS, an advance screening of the first feature-length documentary on playwright Lorraine Hansberry, Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart. Hansberry's “A Raisin In The Sun” was the first work by an African Am
Join the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture librarians and archivists as they unveil their latest pop-up exhibition featuring items from our coveted collection of archival materials. Be the first to get up close and personal with selected items and enjoy an audience Q&A with the collection's curators.
Erin Trahan, for WBUR Boston, interviews Joi Gresham, the executive director of the Lorraine Hansberry Literary Trust, about the upcoming biopic, Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart.
Mary Mitchell's Chicago Sun Times column, "New Lorraine Hansberry biopic worth every year, every penny, it took," focuses on the upcoming documentary, Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, set to debut on PBS stations across the United States on Friday, January 19, 2018.
Salamishah Tillet's essay, "For Lorraine Hansberry, 'A Raisin in the Sun Was Just the Start," discusses the upcoming debut of the documentary, Lorraine Hansberry: Sighted Eyes/Feeling Heart, noting Hansberry's commitment to the ongoing project of social change.