HAVING OUR SAY:
The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years
Two sisters. One century. An American story.
By Emily Mann
Adapted from the book by Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth
Directed by Mark Edward Lang
June 18 through July 19
WEDNESDAYS through SATURDAYS at 7:00 PM*
SUNDAY MATINEES at 2:00 PM
* special JULY 4 matinee at 2:00 PM
Tickets: $40 General Admission, $35 Seniors
$25 Students & Military
OPENING NIGHT (6/18): $45, including Afterparty (no discounts)
PREVIEW NIGHT (6/17): $25 General Admission
THE CLEMANS THEATER for the ARTS at Allen A.M.E.
717 FRANKLIN STREET CAPE MAY, NJ
You are invited into the home of Sadie and Bessie Delany.
When we meet the sisters, they are 102 and 103 years old, preparing tea and recalling the extraordinary lives they have lived together. With warmth, wit, and astonishing clarity, the Delany sisters guide us through the events that shaped modern America—from the rigid segregation of the Jim Crow South to two World Wars, the Civil Rights Movement, and the cultural transformations that followed.
As they welcome us and go about their daily routine, their stories unfold into something larger: a deeply personal reflection on the American story—its triumphs, its failures, and the resilience required to endure both.
Having Our Say also marks the beginning of a new chapter for The Clemans Theater for the Arts, our new permanent home in the historic Allen African Methodist Episcopal Church. The church’s cornerstone, laid in 1888, comes from the same generation as the Delany sisters themselves. More than a century later, their voices return to a space built by that same era—where faith, community, and history have long gathered.
The production opens just before Juneteenth and runs through Independence Day, arriving as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary. The year 2026 is a banner year for reflection and celebration—not only for the country, but also for Cape May, which marks 175 years as a city and 50 years as a National Historic Landmark, a designation that includes this remarkable building and the surrounding historic district.
In this space, history is not distant; it is present all around us.
Content Note:
This play contains discussion of historical racism, segregation, and the lived experiences of Black Americans throughout the 20th century.
When we meet the sisters, they are 102 and 103 years old, preparing tea and recalling the extraordinary lives they have lived together. With warmth, wit, and astonishing clarity, the Delany sisters guide us through the events that shaped modern America—from the rigid segregation of the Jim Crow South to two World Wars, the Civil Rights Movement, and the cultural transformations that followed.
As they welcome us and go about their daily routine, their stories unfold into something larger: a deeply personal reflection on the American story—its triumphs, its failures, and the resilience required to endure both.
Having Our Say also marks the beginning of a new chapter for The Clemans Theater for the Arts, our new permanent home in the historic Allen African Methodist Episcopal Church. The church’s cornerstone, laid in 1888, comes from the same generation as the Delany sisters themselves. More than a century later, their voices return to a space built by that same era—where faith, community, and history have long gathered.
The production opens just before Juneteenth and runs through Independence Day, arriving as the nation approaches its 250th anniversary. The year 2026 is a banner year for reflection and celebration—not only for the country, but also for Cape May, which marks 175 years as a city and 50 years as a National Historic Landmark, a designation that includes this remarkable building and the surrounding historic district.
In this space, history is not distant; it is present all around us.
Content Note:
This play contains discussion of historical racism, segregation, and the lived experiences of Black Americans throughout the 20th century.
BIOS
EMILY MANN (Playwright) is a Multi-award-winning Director and Playwright, and former Artistic Director and Resident Playwright of the Tony Award winning McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, New Jersey. Her plays include: HAVING OUR SAY, adapted from the book by Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth (Hull-Warriner Award, Peabody Award, Christopher Award; Tony awards, Outer Critics, Drama Desk award nominations); EXECUTION OF JUSTICE (Bay Area Theatre Critics Award, Playwriting Award from the Women’s Committee of the Dramatists Guild, Burns Mantle Yearbook Best Play Citation, Drama Desk nomination); STILL LIFE (six Obie Awards); ANNULLA, AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY; GREENSBORO (A REQUIEM); an adaptation of I.B. Singer’s novel MESHUGAH; and MRS. PACKARD (Kennedy Center’s Fund for New American Plays). Adaptations: SCENES FROM A MARRIAGE (Drama League Award nomination), UNCLE VANYA, THE CHERRY ORCHARD, A SEAGULL IN THE HAMPTONS, THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA, BABY DOLL, and ANTIGONE. She was awarded a Princeton University Honorary Doctorate of Arts, a 2015 Helen Merrill Distinguished Playwrights' Award, and a 2015 Margo Jones Award given to a "citizen-of-the-theatre who has demonstrated a lifetime commitment to the encouragement of the living theatre everywhere.”
AMY HILL HEARTH (Book Author) is the author of Miss Dreamsville and the Collier County Women’s Literary Society and Miss Dreamsville and the Lost Heiress of Collier County, in addition to author or coauthor of seven nonfiction books, including Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years, the New York Times bestseller-turned-Broadway-play. Hearth, a former writer for The New York Times, began her career as a reporter at a small daily newspaper in Florida, where she met her future husband, Blair (a Collier County native). She is a graduate of the University of Tampa.
RICHARDA ABRAMS* (Sadie) Five-time AUDELCO award-winning actress/singer/playwright. Performances: New Federal Theatre, (director Woodie King, Jr.), La MaMa (director Estelle Parsons), Crossroads, Ivoryton Playhouse, Public Theater, Cherry Lane, 2ndStage, Actors Studio, Acting Company, Depot Theatre, Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, MultiStages, CBS, ABC, LIFETIME, Sesame Street. Playwright/ Performances: Big Mama and Me (solo), First By Faith: The Life Of Mary McLeod Bethune (solo), Bethune: Our Black Velvet Rose. Film: I Am Here, The Subject, Oreos With Attitude (Showtime). Singing: CD: Song For All, with her father Dr. Muhal Richard Abrams, Amina Claudine Myers’ Voice Choir & Generation IV. Richarda holds a BFA with honors (Acting) New York University's Tisch School of the Arts & MA (Educational Theater) NYU's Steinhardt - University of Leeds, Bretton Hall College, England. www.RichardaAbrams.com.
SHARON HOPE* (Bessie) is delighted to revisit the role of Dr. Bessie in this production of HAVING OUR SAY, The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years. Along with this show Sharon is blessed to work in regional theater, film, TV, solo performances and tinker with a podcast about women we rarely talk about. Recent theater performances include: What The 92% Say with The UpTown Collective, Fabulation at The Billie Holiday Theatre, For All The Women Who Thought They Were Mad at SoHo Rep., DOT at Everyman Theatre, Baltimore, MD. Recent TV credits include: Elsbeth, Dexter, American Gods and God Friended Me.
MARK EDWARD LANG (Director) has a diverse background working in the theater, from acting and directing to graphic design and playwriting. New York directing projects include the interactive comedy Instant Shakespeare and Othello on 42nd Street starring Timothy D. Stickney (“One Life to Live”). Regional includes Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love in Florida; and acclaimed productions of O’Neill’s Anna Christie, Ken Ludwig's Dear Jack, Dear Louise and Kyle Bass’ Possessing Harriet for ELTC. As a playwright: Lunt and Fontanne at Classic Theatre of San Antonio and FringeNYC, Zelda & Scott: A Life Affair (NYC, The Fitzgerald Museum in Alabama & ELTC). Corporate leadership theater events have taken him across the country and around the world with Leadership-Masters. Acting roles include many seasons with ELTC, since 2001. Honors graduate of Vassar College (Kazan Prize for Excellence in the Dramatic Arts).
BEN DAVIS SIMONETTY* (Stage Manager) is a professional Stage Manager, Actor, Director, and Arts Administrator. Ben is originally from the beautiful Hudson valley region of New York , but is now based out of Philadelphia, PA. They have been influenced greatly by the suburban country upbringing of their childhood and the cast of characters they call family. Hoping to bring some of their families unwavering loyalty and fierce love to every piece Ben is working on, their family has been a cornerstone of Ben’s work. They are currently a house manager with McCarter Theatre, and the marketing associate with Montgomery Theater.
SARAH CONSTABLE (Costume Design) is a Brooklyn based costume designer that has had the privilege of working in all forms of production ranging from theater, film, dance, and opera. She is excited to be working on her own designs again after taking a year to assist on three Broadway productions (The Great Gatsby, Tammy Faye, and Real Women Have Curves). You can see her work at www.sarahconstable.com.
CHRIS HAJIAN (Original Music) A graduate of NYC’s High School of the Performing Arts and Manhattan School of Music, Chris has distinguished himself as a feature film composer (“Ten Benny” with Adrien Brody, “The Infiltrator” with Bryan Cranston, “Tin Soldier” with Robert DeNiro); including a number of documentaries (“First Position,” “American Historia” and ”In Balanchine’s Classroom”). He is a Professor of Music at NYU Steinhardt & Manhattan School of Music. His debut jazz album, “My City, My Story,” was released in 2022.
SARAH CONSTABLE (Costume Design) is a Brooklyn based costume designer that has had the privilege of working in all forms of production ranging from theater, film, dance, and opera. She is excited to be working on her own designs again after taking a year to assist on three Broadway productions (The Great Gatsby, Tammy Faye, and Real Women Have Curves). You can see her work at www.sarahconstable.com.
CHRIS HAJIAN (Original Music) A graduate of NYC’s High School of the Performing Arts and Manhattan School of Music, Chris has distinguished himself as a feature film composer (“Ten Benny” with Adrien Brody, “The Infiltrator” with Bryan Cranston, “Tin Soldier” with Robert DeNiro); including a number of documentaries (“First Position,” “American Historia” and ”In Balanchine’s Classroom”). He is a Professor of Music at NYU Steinhardt & Manhattan School of Music. His debut jazz album, “My City, My Story,” was released in 2022.
*Appearing through an Agreement between this theater and Actors' Equity Association,
the Union of Professional Actors & Stage Managers in the United States.
Having Our Say is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals
on behalf of Dramatists Play Service, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com
Originally produced on the New York Stage by Camille O. Cosby & Judith Rutherford James.
Originally produced by McCarter Theater, Princeton, New Jersey
Emily Mann, Artistic Director; Jeffrey Woodward, Managing Director.
the Union of Professional Actors & Stage Managers in the United States.
Having Our Say is presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals
on behalf of Dramatists Play Service, Inc. www.concordtheatricals.com
Originally produced on the New York Stage by Camille O. Cosby & Judith Rutherford James.
Originally produced by McCarter Theater, Princeton, New Jersey
Emily Mann, Artistic Director; Jeffrey Woodward, Managing Director.
