The Madison Repertory Theatre added a number of recent books-turned-plays into its catalogue as of late. Such plays usually have one solid advantage over others, in that the books' readers are likely to be interested in the play. Millions of people had read the book versions of Tuesdays with Morrie\ and ""The Santaland Diaries,"" and the Madison Rep did a fantastic job bringing them to stage.
Last Friday was the opening night for ""Having Our Say,"" another play that was originally brought into this world as a best-selling book. It was a series of memoirs that recounted the lives of the Delany sisters, a pair of centenarians who had lived from the advent of the Jim Crow laws until the appointment of Clarence Thomas. It is a great book, but sadly this production of the play does little more than achieve mediocrity.
The curtain rises upon an elaborate set of a the Delany sisters' house complete with a living room, dining room and '50s era kitchen. Sitting in two upholstered chairs are Miss Sadie Delany (Mimi Ayers) and Dr. Bessie Delany (Linda Bright Clay), who have reached the ages of 103 and 101 respectively. The actresses who play these women are probably in their forties, and though they give their gaits certain restrictions that would come with an older age, they otherwise demonstrate little trouble with speed and dexterity, lifting heavy household objects with ease. They do not give us convincing portrayals of their characters' ages, which causes a big problem.
The play's set-up is that the sisters are telling the audience the story of their lives while cooking a dinner. Throughout most of the play the two women just sit there and recount their family history, while commenting on their mistreatment at the hands of racism. The only other action that occurs onstage involves setting a table and cooking what looks to be like a meal of vegetables and glazed, honey-baked ham. They recount interesting stories about their mother's multi-racial identity, their father's journey from slave to vice principal, and their groundbreaking journeys as educated black women in a time when Jim Crow laws existed, and lynching occurred all over the South.
The problem lies not in the play's content, but in its delivery. It seems the actors are just reading the book's lines onstage, instead of inviting the audience to witness and take part in the characters' lives. If not for the occasional jokes about southern ""Reby Boys,"" Dan Quayle and ""the meanest looking man in Pennsylvania,"" it would almost seem the audience is receiving a classroom lecture.
In what should be the most dramatic part of the play, Bessie describes a time when she was almost lynched. Bessie is headstrong and outspoken, and when she insults a white man while waiting for a train, people begin to assemble around the drunkard's call for a stiff retribution. Bessie describes facing her death with great dignity, as she has done nothing but stand up for herself. In the end she is saved by her train's timely arrival, and thus is able to be transported away from this horrible situation. This scene passes like most scenes in the play with little more than a straight retelling, as if listening to a book on tape. The audience is intrigued by the story, as the subject matter is rich, but it is delivered with such little drama that you feel like the characters are not telling their own stories but merely something they have heard through the grapevine.
Recently, there have been some magnificent recent dramas about race, including the year's best picture ""Crash"" and a recent Madison production and Pulitzer Prize winner ""Topdog/Underdog."" Both of these plays were edgy, engaging and first-rate explorations of race and identity in the United States. Perhaps it is simply that the Madison Repertory Theatre has set the bar so high with their recent productions that for them to put on a play that is less than excellent is a disappointment. ""Having Our Say"" is not a particularly good production, but it is not a bad one either. It is just a little flat.
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