HAVING OUR SAY: THE DELANY SISTERS’ FIRST 100 YEARS
Adapted by Emily Mann from the book of oral history by Sarah "Sadie" L. Delany and A. Elizabeth "Bessie" Delany with Amy Hill Hearth
Director: Jeremy Gold-Kronenberg
WHEN: February 21-23; Thursdays-Saturday 8 PM; Saturday 2 PM
WHERE: Westminster Arts Center, Franklin Street, Bloomfield
TICKETS: $23; seniors $21; students $19
973.566.WALL (9255) | info@4thwalltheatre.org Questions
HAVING OUR SAY opens as 103-year-old Sadie and 101-year-old Bessie Delany welcome us into their home in Mount Vernon, New York. We, the audience, are guests in their home as the sisters prepare dinner in remembrance of their father's birthday. As they bake a ham, stuff a chicken for roasting, and make ambrosia and pound cake, they recount a fascinating series of events and anecdotes drawn from their rich family history and their careers as pioneering African American professional women. They lived during the turbulent times for descendants of slaves that occurred just after the Civil War, and they continue into the present, doing daily yoga exercises and watching the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour each evening.
HAVING OUR SAY unfolds, we witness the rise of middle income African Americans facing prejudice and discrimination in the South during and after slavery. We follow them at the turn of the last century as they move to Harlem just before the Roaring 20's. We follow them in Harlem during the Great Depression and through two world wars as they resolutely obtained their education in an environment hostile to women. The audience feels the sisters' frustration, anger, and pain as they come of age during the Jim Crow era, just as the audience mentally celebrates the sisters' successes as they overcome obstacles to rise to the top in their professions.
This, then, is a story about the struggles of women in a male dominated society; of a family working together building a good life, as they serve others as good neighbors and set examples for the younger members of their family. Finally, it is a story about ordinary people who make extraordinary achievements, living as good citizens, actively engaged with life, voicing strong opinions about current events -- for more than 100 years.
Sadie Delany: Mimi Francis
Bessie Delany: Gwen Ricks-Spencer
