HAVING OUR SAY
HAVING OUR SAY opens as 103-year-old Sadie Delany and 101-year-old Bessie Delany welcome us into their Mount Vernon, New York, home. As they prepare a celebratory dinner in remembrance of their father's birthday, they take us on a remarkable journey through the last hundred years of our nation's history, recounting a fascinating series of events and anecdotes drawn from their rich family history and careers as pioneering African-American professionals. Their story is not simply African-American history or women's history. It is our history, told through the eyes of two unforgettable women as they look not only into the past, but also ahead into the twenty-first century.
The play is both entertaining and educational. The play tells the story of Black people in America from slavery to freedom and up through the 20th century through the story of these remarkable women and their family. The characters speak directly to the audience. The audience should feel as if they have actually met them. There is no 4th wall.
I wrote this to be performed by two actresses descended from the African diaspora. There would need to be a compelling reason for this not to happen. However, if, for example, this were being done in China with Chinese actresses, I would want to make sure the director and producers were artists of integrity and their reason for doing the play adhered to the intent of the play.
