Delany Sisters’ story still bears repeating
By Dave Wielenga

The story of the Delany sisters is starting to feel as old as they were, which was over 100 when the story of their remarkable lives was first told in a New York Times article in 1991. But even after a best-selling book, countless television appearances and right-up-to-this-one follow-up articles, the latest revival of Having Our Say still bears a good telling.

Human history is like that, which is to say that the story of the Delany sisters wouldn’t have been worth a minute if somebody had made it up. Too cute, too calculated, too convenient. Two centenarian sisters—so old they call themselves colored or Negro, not black or African-American—telling the story of 20th century race relations by retracing their own lives? Toodles!

But the truth beneath Having Our Say—a truth confirmed by nuances, rather than big issues—transforms plot elements into evidence, which then transforms an evening of entertainment into an emotional experience.

Of course, on the stage of the International City Theatre the dearly departed Delany sisters—Bessie died in 1995 at age 104, Sadie died in 1999 at age 109—aren’t as crucial as the actresses who portray them. Bessie and Sadie got to indulge their rich personalities in the comfort of their own home. Robin Braxton and Amentha Dymally have the difficult, delicate charge of inhabiting those quirks without making them cartoonish—and doing it in a wall-less parlor and kitchen half-surrounded by an amphitheater of seats.

They succeed, especially Braxton, although that may be because she’s got the more-extroverted role of Bessie, who doesn’t hide her contempt for the insulting and dangerous circumstances she’s had to endure because of her race. She careens between her rage and the realization that it threatens to turn her into her enemies. In comparison, Sadie’s sweet, get-along strategy can seem naïve and weak, and it takes awhile for Dymally to show us her subtle wisdom and strength.

There’s nothing new in Having Our Say. The Delany sisters have lived their lives, and they can’t change anything. But the reason the play still resonates is that we’re still here, and we can.

HAVING OUR SAY INTERNATIONAL CITY THEATRE | LONG BEACH PERFORMING ARTS CENTER | 300 E OCEAN BLVD | LONG BEACH 90802 | 562.436.4610 | ICTLONGBEACH.ORG | THURS-SAT 8PM; SUN 2PM. THROUGH MAY 20. $32-42.

Tags: Theater