Review: "Having Our Say" at Ivoryton Playhouse

Ivoryton - “Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years“ has opened at the beautiful Ivoryton Playhouse. The Tony nominated play by Emily Mann was adapted from the New York Times bestselling novel by Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth and so is based upon a true story.

It isn’t often that a play covers a century’s worth of life experience of a character, and in this piece we get to hear two elderly ladies of color tell stories about their 100 years of life.

The three acts take us into the worlds of Sadie and Bessie Delany, two real-life civil rights pioneers. Their tales are warm, often funny, but always intelligent. I found this a moving portrait of two groundbreaking women who continue to laugh, love, and embrace life after living over a hundred years side by side.

The play begins as the sisters, 103-year-old Sadie and her little sister Bessie (101 years of age,) sincerely welcome the audience into their Mount Vernon home while they prepare a celebratory dinner in remembrance of their late father’s birthday. The remarkable journey through the last hundred years of our nation’s history touches on post-Civil War Reconstruction through the Harlem Renaissance and includes their sharp memories of Booker T. Washington, Langston Hughes, W.E.B. Du Bois, and Paul Robeson.

There are plenty of funny lines in the three acts, probably even funnier because they are delivered by centenarians. As a former educator, I loved when Sadie regales the audience with the details about how she became a public school teacher. The path that Bessie took to become a respected dentist is just as interesting.

The play is lovingly directed by Ivoryton Playhouse’s Associate Artistic Director Todd Underwood. Costumes by Elizabeth Saylor are spot on, especially the aprons that the sisters don while working in the kitchen. Lighting by Marcus Abbott is gentle and effective and sound by Tate R. Burmeister worked well.

Set design by Martin Marchitto is a masterpiece of an established home in upstate New York. With two chairs in the living room at the middle of the stage, the sisters are able to face the audience to share their stories. A large video screen is positioned above the living area, where we are able to see blown up versions of the photos to which the ladies refer. There is a formal dining room on stage left and a small kitchen with avocado green appliances at the other side of the stage.

Catherine Williams takes on the role as Sadie alongside Hope Harley, who plays Bessie. Both Equity actresses of color make us believe they are spry centenarians and work together as seamlessly, sometimes speaking at the same time as close siblings might do. Even when they are squabbling about a memory, they remain dignified senior citizens who never miss a chance to exercise their right to vote.

The play is presented in three acts, with ten minutes of intermission after Act 1 and Act 2. There is a QR code that leads to the virtual program, but I had no service on my phone so that I could access it. The seats on the main floor are socially distanced.

HAVING OUR SAY: THE DELANY SISTERS’ FIRST 100 YEARS runs through Sunday, September 5th, 2021. Performance times are Wednesday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 pm; evening performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 pm, Friday and Saturday at 8:00 pm. There will be one Thursday matinee at 2:00 pm on August 12th.

The safety of our audience is our primary concern. We have socially distanced our capacity so that there are only 140 seats in the theatre for your comfort and protection.

Tickets are $55 for adults, $50 for seniors, $25 for students and are available beginning June 14 by calling the Playhouse box office at 860.767.7318. Tickets are not available online. Visit our website at http://www.ivorytonplayhouse.org for more information. (Group rates are available by calling the box office for information.) The Playhouse is located at 103 Main Street in Ivoryton.

Nancy Sasso Janis has been writing theatre reviews since 2012 as a way to support local theatre venues. She posts reviews of well over 100 productions each year. In 2016, she became a member of the Connecticut Critics Circle. She continues to contribute theatre news, previews, and audition notices to local Patch sites. Reviews of all levels of theatrical productions are posted on Naugatuck Patch and the Patch sites closest to the venue. She recently became a contributor to the Waterbury Republican-American newspaper. Her weekly column IN THE WINGS and theatre reviews appear in the Thursday Weekend section of the paper.

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