Critical Analysis: Les Blancs

Although A Raisin in the Sun is Hanberry’s most well-known play, Les Blancs is the “black sheep” of the family, translating from French to “The Whites.” The play is a response to French playwright Jean Genet’s 1959 play The Blacks, in which black actors wear white masks to represent white slave owners (Barrios 32, Norton Anthology 824). According to Olga Barrios, Hansberry does not rise to the bait that Genet set, but instead rises above it by making her characters full people as opposed to stereotypes, or making all characters of the same race the same style of character.
The play began previews on Broadway on October 11, 1970; with an official opening on November 15. The show ran for 30 previews and 40 performances to close on December 19, 1970. The cast starred James Earl Jones, who won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance in the role; and Lili Darvas, who was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play, both in 1971. The costume designer, Jane Greenwood, was also nominated for a Tony Award (Internet Broadway Database).
One very interesting thing about the play is that it is the only one of Hansberry’s plays to take place in Africa. While she was interested in African studies her entire life, she never managed to set one of her plays there until her final story, which was finished by her ex-husband and publisher Robert Nimeroff. I believe this is because she was too focused on the events happening in the United States at the time, mainly the Civil Rights Movement.