Beautiful. They are just … beautiful.
At Coachella Valley Repertory’s first performance of Having Our Say, the gentle Delany Sisters stole our hearts. (With CV Rep’s permission, the Independent reviewed the first preview performance, rather than the opening-night show, so the review could make our February print deadline.) These two ladies charmed the packed house from their first words. Their stories and memories will make you laugh often, and you’ll find yourself misty-eyed at least once or twice.
The actresses are H. Chris Brown, playing 101-year-old Dr. Bessie Delany, and Regina Randolph, playing her 103-year-old sister, Miss Sadie Delany. Both give magnificently multilayered performances that fascinate and delight. Oh—and don’t call them “black” or even “African American.” They tell us they prefer “Negro” or “colored.” Interesting, eh?
We knew going in that words like “action-packed” or “a dizzying ride” were not going to be part of this play’s review. However, what we weren’t expecting was to be so completely enchanted by the Delany girls. In fact, having seen what the years can do to some people, the prospect of a play featuring two centenarians could be a little scary. But from the start, we meet two ladies who are—although a wee bit slow-moving, perhaps—articulate, thoughtful, intelligent and dignified, with lovely senses of humor and slices of life worth talking about.
Don’t get me wrong; there’s plenty in Emily Mann’s script to make us squirm uncomfortably: mentions of Jim Crow laws, racial prejudice, lynchings and the fact that their father was actually born into slavery. But director Ron Celona has shrewdly juxtaposed the stark black-and-white historical photographs, shown on a flat screen disguised as a painting, against the colorful, three-part set of the Delanys’ wallpapered living room, dining room and warm kitchen.
The book Having Our Say, which the real Delany sisters wrote, was published in 1993, and this play is set in that same year. Do you expect to reach the age of 100? Well, these gals give you their recipe for longevity! Coming from a family of 10 children, the sisters think a lot about their parents and siblings. They speak, in their musical Southern accents, with inherent wisdom, discussing music, sex, values, men, education, taxes, entertainers, how they became professional career women, and survival against all odds. They talk about the special sense of humor of oppressed people. They talk about turning 100. (“The worst day of my life!” declares one of them.) They tell the truth about what it’s like to be, in their words, Negro.
Imagine actually knowing someone, living with someone, for 100 years. The Delanys show us what it’s like—and that alone would be fascinating. But the 20th century was quite interesting, and we get to see it from their point of view. What was their part in protest movements? How did their strong faith hold up in tough times? Why was higher education so important to them? I wonder what they’d think of the 21st century so far!
These graceful performances, developed under Celona’s steady and confident hand, will stay in your heart. This kind of audience engagement is the touchstone of professionalism and experience.
CV Rep’s technical-team members all lend their considerable talents to the mix: stage manager Karen Goodwin, set designer Jimmy Cuomo, costume designer Aalsa Lee, lights by Eddie Cancel, sound by Randy Hansen, props by Doug Morris, and superstar Lynda Shaeps creating the excellent makeup and hair. Everything works, so you can sit back, relax and let the magic happen.
And magic does happen. In a two-person play, with sisters yet, we need to see both the many similarities and the differences between these ladies; I won’t give away what those are. A lot of thought has gone into these performances, and the payoff is the audience’s spontaneous reactions of both hearty laughter and tears of empathy. It’s one thing to make us believe intellectually, with our heads, but entirely another to provoke our emotional responses, in our souls. When a terrific script, surefire direction and lovely performances all come together, as they do here, we fly away to another time and place … and in this case, land in the laps of the sweet Delany sisters.
When I asked actor Gavin MacLeod what he thought of the show, he smiled and said, “I want to take them home with me!”
The play runs through Feb. 8, and is dangerously close to selling out, so get your tickets ASAP. You don’t want to miss this show. Because it’s … just beautiful.
Having Our Say is performed at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday; and 2 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, through Sunday, Feb. 8, at Coachella Valley Repertory, at 69930 Highway 111, No. 116, in Rancho Mirage. The show runs two hours, with two intermissions, and tickets are $45. For tickets or more information, call 760-296-2966, or visit cvrep.org.