Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign In Sidney Brustein's Window
by Lorraine Hansberry

Name: Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign In Sidney Brustein's Window
Brand: Lorraine Hansberry
SKU: 9780573615412
Rating: 3.69 (378 reviews)

Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign In Sidney Brustein's Window Cover

Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign In Sidney Brustein's Window Book Cover — Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign In Sidney Brustein's Window Cover

Highlights

Medium Cast

Female

Male

120 mins1960sRole(s) for Black Actor(s)Interior SetContemporary Costumes/Street ClothesAmerican Historical Black History Comedy

Awards & Recognition

Tony Award

Nominee: Two 2023 Tony Awards, including Best Revival of a Play

What readers are saying

Readers have mixed feelings about the play, noting its ambitious exploration of themes like race and social justice. While many appreciate Hansberry's unique writing style and rich character dynamics, several find the play's relevance diminished over time and feel that it doesn't hold a candle to her earlier work, "A Raisin in the Sun." Overall, opinions vary widely on the effectiveness of the story and its presentations.

Thought-provoking themesStrong performancesEngaging dialogueRich character dynamicsPacing issues at timesNot as impactful as Raisin

Synopsis

This is the probing, hilarious and provocative story of Sidney, a disenchanted Greenwich Village intellectual, his wife Iris, an aspiring actress, and their colorful circle of friends and relations.

Set against the shenanigans of a stormy political campaign, the play follows its characters in their unorthodox quests for meaningful lives in an age of corruption, alienation and cynicism.

With compassion, humor and poignancy, the author examines questions concerning the fragility of love, morality and ethics, interracial relationships, drugs, rebellion, conformity and especially withdrawal from or commitment to the world.

Press Reviews

"Tantalizing... the play was, and remains, as brilliant and pugnacious a punch against liberal inertia as any thrown in real life."
— Jesse Green, The New York Times, 2023

"An extraordinary play, a drama so infused with emotional intelligence, linguistic treasures and the human conditions of dread and longing that it keeps you bolt-upright in your seat for nearly three hours."
— Chicago Tribune

"Sublime... Crackling with ideological argument and loaded with withering observations about American progressivism, Sidney Brustein is thrilling."
— Variety

"Rich, warm, funny, vital and varied... Beautifully written."
— Los Angeles Times

"Shines with humor, trembles with feeling and summons up a vision of wisdom and integrity."
— New York Times

Characters

Character	Gender	Age	Description
Alton Scales	—	—	—
Iris Parodus Brustein	—	—	—
Wally O'Hara	—	—	—
Max	—	—	—
Mavis Parodus Bryson	—	—	—
David Ragin	—	—	—
Gloria Parodus	—	—	—
Sidney Brustein	—	—	—

Videos

Director Anne Kaufman on The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window

Publication

PublisherSamuel French

Year1986

BindingPaperback

EditionRev. stage ed

Pages143

PlaceNew York

LanguageEnglish

ISBN-139780573615412

ISBN-100573615411

LCCN87138696

LCCPS3515.A515 S5 1986

DCC812/.54

Lorraine Hansberry's The Sign In Sidney Brustein's Window is a American historical play written by Lorraine Hansberry and published by Samuel French in New York (1986).