Beneatha's Place
By Kwame Kwei-Armah
Year staged: 2023
Opening night: 27/06/2023
Staged in: Young Vic
Cast Size: 6
Synopsis
1959. The first wave of independence is sweeping across Africa and Beneatha has left the prejudice of 1950s America for a brighter future with her Nigerian husband in Lagos. But on the day they move into their new house in the white suburbs, it doesn’t take long for cracks to appear, changing the course of the rest of their lives. Present day. Now a renowned Dean whose colleagues are questioning the role of African American studies for future generations, Beneatha returns to the same house in search of answers. Inspired by Lorraine Hansberry’s groundbreaking modern classic, A Raisin in the Sun, Beneatha’s Place challenges today’s culture wars about colonial history and reckoning with the past.
Original Cast
Cherrelle Skette
Beneatha Asagai-Younger
Sebastian Armesto
Daniel Barnes / Professor Mark Bond
Jumoké Fashola
Professor Shirley Barnes / Aunty Fola
Zackary Momoh
Joseph Asagai Funmilayo / Wale Oguns
Tom Godwin
Mr Nelson / Professor Gary Jacobs
Nia Gwynne
Mrs Nelson / Dr Harriet Banks
Production Team
Kwame Kwei-Armah
Playwright / Director
Debbie Duru
Designer
Tony Gayle
Sound Designer
Mark Henderson
Lighting Designer
Shelley Maxwell
Movement Director
Esi Acquaah-Harrison
Dialect Coach
Heather Basten CDG
Casting Director
Fran Cattaneo
Senior Casting Assistant
Iman Wilson
Casting Assistant