As America nears celebrations for its 250th anniversary, Round House Theatre in Bethesda is presenting the regional premiere of “Sally & Tom,” a provocative dramedy that alternates between 1790s Monticello and a present-day rehearsal room, where a theater company is staging a play about Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson.
For some, the play, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, may cause confusion, anxiety, and even anger, as it’s a story about how history gets told, sometimes, if not often, incorrectly, to assuage fears about America’s darkest secrets and truths.
Director Timothy Douglas describes the production, which runs until June 28, as more than just an “historical look-back,” adding that “it’s a necessary confrontation.”
“It’s a story told with incredible humor and a raw, biting ferocity that forces us to sit with the contradictions of our own history, interrogates the ‘pursuit of happiness,’ and asks us to look closely at for whom that promise was really written,” Douglas told The Informer.
For the director and cast, the play addresses narratives Americans have inherited, the ones that storytellers have chosen to retell, and whose stories remain untold.
In preparing for his role as Thomas Jefferson, actor Josiah Bania said the former president lived amidst a host of contradictory beliefs that traditional narratives often omit.
“Jefferson is a mystery to me – he was sophisticated enough to avoid looking at himself in the mirror and to admit inconvenient truths about his behavior,” Bania said. “While he wrote passionately against slavery early in his life, he also owned upwards of 600 slaves in his later years. I’ve learned a few things about myself by learning more about who Jefferson really was.”
Several weeks ago, Douglas, Bania and the rest of the cast traveled to Jefferson’s home in Monticello, in order to prepare for the role.
Bania believes audiences will leave the theater with more questions than answers, some of which are posed by the actors during the performance. He hopes people will have the courage to seek those answers.
“As an artist, I don’t have an agenda,” he said. “But as one of my teachers at whose feet I once sat said to me, our job is to disturb the air. How each person responds is up to them.”
Douglas said he learns something new each day as he and the cast prepare to bring the production to the stage. And he’s invigorated by the process.
“This play gives a voice to the voiceless,” he said. “Ultimately, we’re forced to answer the question, is this fiction or history? Yes, the actors wrestle with that but so will the audience. I believe that’s what makes this work so fascinating. And because this is a minority-majority cast, people of color will be able to see themselves, to recognize themselves on stage, and not just as slaves.”
For more information, go to RoundHouseTheatre.org.
