PSU-Shenango offers ‘Having Our Say’

Staff report

Sharon, Pa.

The Penn State Shenango Drama Club will have two productions this spring.

A staged reading of Emily Mann’s “Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters’ First 100 Years” will be given at 7:30 p.m. Saturday as a benefit for the Community Food Warehouse.

And on April 13 and 14, a series of one-acts will be offered with the theme “Trifles and Other Important Things.”

All events will take place in the Penn State Shenango auditorium, downtown.

Tickets for “Having Our Say” are $5 for adults and $3 for students and seniors, with $1 off any regular admission with the donation of a nonperishable item for the Community Food Warehouse.

Call 724-983-2836 for information or group rates.

Nicole Rogers and Tracey Peterson-Banks portray the two sisters, whose real-life story begins in the Reconstruction period and progresses through the rise of Jim Crow, two world wars, the triumphs of the Harlem Renaissance, the civil-rights movement, and finally into the 1990s.

The words are those of 103-year-old Sadie Delany and 101-year-old Bessie Delaney who welcome the audience into their living room for a visit.

They take the audience on a remarkable journey through 100 years of history.

The play recounts events and anecdotes drawn from their family history and careers as pioneering black professionals.

Jeanne Zingale is the director.