Hartford Stage, Hartford, CT
through March 15, 2015
by Bernadette Johnson
Pull up a chair and set a spell. We’ve been invited into the
Mount Vernon, NY, home of black centenarian sisters Sadie and Bessie Delany,
and we are about to be entertained, engaged and enthralled by the wit, wisdom
and joie de vivre of these inseparable spinsters. The year is 1993. Sadie is
103 years old, and Bessie is 101.
The second and third of ten siblings born to an
education-loving former slave, the Delany sisters are a far cry from
stereotypical. Both college graduates, Sadie, with a Master’s Degree in
education, has distinguished herself as a teacher in New York City’s schools,
and Bessie, a Columbia University Dental School graduate, was the second black
woman to become a licensed dentist in New York State.
The sisters’ tales of family are interwoven with American
history, in particular as it impacted their lives and the lives of black
families in what was a century of struggle — racial segregation in the Jim Crow
era, prejudice, the Civil Rights movement, the stock market crash, the Great
Depression, two world wars, Rosa Parks, Montgomery and Dr. Martin Luther King,
Jr.
Having lived so long together, the sisters complement each
other seamlessly, often speaking in unison. However, they are far from carbon
copies. Olivia Cole is soft-spoken Sadie. She is the quiet, gracious one,
seeking peaceful resolution in times of conflict, whereas Brenda Pressley’s
Bessie is outspoken and opinionated, spunky and feisty. She doesn’t hesitate to
express her true feelings, and her one-liners generate much laughter. Their
warmhearted give-and-take reflects their singular bond.
Under the masterful direction of Jade King Carroll, Cole and
Pressley don’t miss a beat as they move about the set, even prepare an
elaborate meal to celebrate their deceased father’s birthday. From the outset,
they shift gears casually as the memories tumble forth and Delany family photos
are projected above the back wall.
It’s no exaggeration to say that Alexis Distler’s set is a
third “grandmotherly” character. The sisters’ Mount Vernon home is an inviting
three-room single set with a charm and history of its own.
