![]() ![]() ![]() Lorraine Hansberry’s The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window lives in the shadow of its author’s famous first play, A Raisin in the Sun, which along with Death of a Salesman and The Iceman Cometh stands as a signal representation of disquiet in the age of “the American dream.” It was the second and final play that Hansberry lived to see produced on Broadway, running for 101 performances from October 1964 to January 1965, and lasting that long only due to an epic campaign by its supporters despite slow ticket sales and mixed reviews. Its flaws often provide insights that a more polished and lauded work cannot. Because it requires more generosity to appreciate, it gives the viewer or reader the chance to feel a kinship with it, to make it their own. ![]() But in its messiness or “wrongness” it can also be more inviting. First, it has the element of surprise: we are less likely to know how we are supposed to interpret it. The neglected work has a number of advantages over the acknowledged masterpiece. ![]()
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