Having Our Say- (Play) Based on the Real Lives of the Delany Sisters

The play, Having Our Say, is based on the real lives of the Delany sisters who lived to be well over a hundred years old.

In the play, the sisters address the audience and welcome them into their home. They go on to share their life and family history with us, in doing so breaking the third wall.

This play featured strong ideals of family as well as female empowerment, I believe. The familial ties due to all the family history they shared and photos, it was just a family oriented play. However, the ideals of female empowerment I believe come from the two leads, the protagonists of the play: 103-year-old Sadie and 101-year-old Bessie Delany.

In the play they are in the midst of preparing dinner and dessert while embracing their father's birthday, while doing so sharing with us their lifetime and the lifetimes of their family members before them.

I believe that Sadie and Bessie embodied female empowerment because of all they accomplished, they were accomplished in a time where it was difficult for women to accomplish anything, let alone a woman of color and to add to the fact that they were unwed.

For each of them to have individually accomplished it was empowering to hear their story. They both had worked so hard to achieve all they had, and they did it.

I found this play, based on their real lives, to be an inspiring story.

This play was inspiring, heartfelt, and entertaining Bessie was just a hoot!

Overall I really enjoyed this play and would look into reading the book and seeing the film sometime in the future.