I wanted to know two things when I walked into the "A Raisin in the Sun" production at the Guthrie Theater: Would the play’s message of insidious discrimination against blacks still be relevant 50 years after its debut in 1959? And, could this 2009 cast compete with the 1961 movie I’d seen starring Sidney Poitier and the rest of the original Broadway cast?

"Yes, unfortunately," to the first question, and "yes, absolutely" to the second.

Lorraine Hansberry’s play centers on a family whose matriarch is about to receive $10,000 in a life-insurance policy after the death of her husband. She wants to buy a home so her family (five altogether) can move out of their roach-infested two-bedroom apartment on Chicago’s South Side. Her son (a chauffeur) wants to use the money to open a liquor store with two unreliable buddies. Of course, Lena Younger prevails and puts a down payment on a house in an all-white neighborhood. Pride and prejudice quickly come into play.

All that sounds like it could make for a depressing reminder of historic discrimination against black people. But there’s just enough comic relief in the family’s interactions with one another to give the audience a break. The powerful message stays intact and remains relevant. Since seeing the play Sunday night, I’ve found myself comparing housing discrimination in the 1950s with the forms it takes today: for one, the difficulty that credit-worthy minorities have had in obtaining low-interest mortgages compared with white applicants with lower credit scores.

If I were teaching a class on race relations, I would bring my students to see this production. It has many jumping-off points for discussion.

As for the acting, Penumbra Theatre founder and director Lou Bellamy cast superb players all-around. My personal favorites: Franchelle Stewart Dorn as Lena Younger; David Alan Anderson as her son, Walter Lee Younger; and Bakesta King, Lena’s daughter who dreams of going to medical school.

The play is running on the Guthrie’s McGuire Proscenium Stage, which while not as intimate as the Penumbra Theatre, offers one profoundly powerful set for this play -- the apartment.

If they could have been in attendance at a packed Sunday night showing, I want to think that the late playwright, Poitier and other survivors of the original cast would have joined the local audience in a standing ovation. Though Minnesotans are sometimes ridiculed for standing and clapping at the end of just about any performance, this production of "A Raisin in the Sun"  is worthy of high praise.

The play runs through April 11. Details here.