• The Play and Its Context
  • Emily Mann on Having Our Say
  • Delany Family Tree
  • Timeline of the Delany Sisters’ Lifetime
  • Important Historical Figures in the Delanys’ Lives
• About this Production
  • Who’s Who
  • Interview With Emily Mann
• Theater in the Classroom
  • Core Curriculum Standards
  • Pre-Show Discussion Questions and Activities
  • Post-Show Discussion Questions and Activities
• Additional Resources

Pre-Show Preparation, Questions for Discussion, and Activities

Note to Educators: Use the following assignments, questions, and activities to introduce your students to Having Our Say and its intellectual and artistic origins, context, and themes, as well as to engage their imaginations and creativity before they see the production.

1. Reading
   Have students read either the book Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters First Hundred Years by Sarah L. Delany and A. Elizabeth Delany with Amy Hill Hearth or the play Having Our Say, which was adapted from the book by McCarter Theatre Artistic Director and Resident Playwright Emily Mann.
   
   
2. In Context:  Having Our Say
   To prepare your students for Having Our Say and to deepen their level of understanding of and appreciation for the lives and experiences of Bessie and Sadie Delany, have your students research, either in groups or individually, some of the following topics:
   
   
• Harlem Renaissance (Overview)
• Dr. W.E.B. DuBois
• James Weldon Johnson
• Walter White
• E. Franklin Frazier
• Dr. Louise T. Wright
• Ethel Waters
• Langston Hughes
• Duke Ellington
• Lena Horne
• Cab Calloway
• Jim Crow
• Booker T. Washington
• Alberta Hunter
• Fletcher Henderson
• Paul Robeson
• Marian Anderson
• Dr. Ralph Abernathy
• Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.
• Ku Klux Klan
  

Ask your students teach one another about their individual or group topics via oral and illustrated (i.e., posters or PowerPoint) reports.  Following the presentations ask your students to reflect upon their research process and discoveries.

3. Timeline Project
   Before your students come to see Having Our Say, share with them the timeline found in this Audience Resource Guide.
   
   
   • Then ask your student to create a timeline for a member of their family (preferably a grandparent, parent, or uncle or aunt).  Include important moments in their family history, as well as landmark historical moments in world history.
     
     
   • Next, have your students create a timeline for themselves for the future.  Where will they be in 10 years, 20 years, 30 years, 40 years?  What will they be doing?  Where will they be living?  What landmark historical moment will occur in their futures?
     
     
4. Family and Food
   Emily Mann’s adaptation of Having Our Say occurs as Sadie and Bessie Delany prepare a birthday dinner to honor the anniversary of their father’s birthday; the dinner they prepare features all of Reverend Delany’s favorite foods.
   
   
   • Have a discussion with your students about the role of food in their families.  What kinds of family rituals do they have that revolve around eating and/or cooking?  What foods or dishes are featured?
     
     
   • Ask your students to bring in copies of their favorite family recipes, and, if possible hold a meal sharing in class in which students bring in samples of their favorite family dishes.
     
     
   • Have your students write a food-related memory that relates to their favorite foods.  Have students share their memories with the class.  Then for homework ask them to write a poem or short story which features their food-related memory.  Share these compositions in class.