HAVING OUR SAY Will Kick Off East Lynne's 46th Season

The reimagined East Lynne Theater Company will open its Season Forty-Six with the extraordinary, real-life story “Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years” by Emily Mann, running June 18 to July 19, at the Clemans Theater for the Arts at the Allen AME in Cape May.

Based on the book by Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth, the play opens with the sisters, Sadie and Bessie, now 102 and 103 years young, recalling their exceptional lives with warmth, wit and clarity. The sisters guide audiences through the monumental events that shaped our country over the last century, such as the Jim Crow South, two World Wars, the Civil Rights Movement, among others. Throughout their long lives the Delany sisters defied stereotypes: both received a college education, as well as advanced degrees from Columbia University. Bessie earned a Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS), while Sadie held a Master's in Education, and both embarked on ground-breaking careers. Over the years the women considered notables like W.E.B. DuBois, Booker T. Washington, Eleanor Roosevelt, Cab Calloway, and Duke Ellington friends.

Their fascinating stories, as well as anecdotes drawn from their rich family history and careers as pioneering African-American professionals, however, unfold into something larger: personal reflections on the American story—its triumphs, its failures and the resilience required to endure both.

“As we mark our first full year at the Clemans Theater for the Arts, the former Allen African Methodist Episcopal Church, this story ties in beautifully to Cape May's own history, as the Delany sisters and our theater building essentially grew up together and experienced many of the same historical events—in first-person for the sisters, while the other served as a gathering place for faith and community during our country's toughest times,” says Mark David Boberick, executive director of East Lynne. “We specifically designed this show for this special theater because we've discovered that within this space history isn't distant, it's present all around us, and our entire company is extremely excited to bring this production to our community.”

Richarda Abrams, a five-time AUDELCO Award-winning actress, plays Sadie Delany, who became the first Black permitted to teach Domestic Science at the high school level in the New York City Public Schools. Abrams' television and theater credits include “One Life to Live,” “The Vagina Monologues” and “Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?” Veteran theater and television actress Sharon Hope reprises the role of Bessie Delany, a role she previously performed on tour, the sister who became the second Black woman to practice dentistry in New York State. Hope's recent TV credits include “Elsbeth” and “Dexter.” The creative team also includes Director Mark Edward Lang (“Ken Ludwig's Dear Jack, Dear Louise”), Costume Designer Sarah Constable, Production Designer Mark David Boberick and original music by Composer Chris Hajian, who has scored multiple feature films and documentaries.

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