Sarah and Sally

One-act play that imagines an encounter in 1770s Paris between two of history’s most
exploited black women.

Synopsis

Sarah, an African woman, makes a living by performing in front of white audiences throughout
Europe. They are amazed by her many talents and mesmerized by her prominent derriere. She’s
banks on their curiosity, saving every franc she makes to buy a home of her own.
Sally is a half-white girl from America who waits hand and foot on two daughters of a
prominent U.S. statesman. But in Paris, she enjoys a day of freedom every Saturday. It’s a day
she savors because, back home, she was a slave seven days a week.
The two women are keenly aware of their differences. One is curvaceous, the other slight. One is
brash, the other demur. And one is shockingly irreverent, while the other is guilelessly religious.
During their last meet up, both women’s semblance of freedom is dealt a fatal blow. In a
poignant moment of connection, Sarah and Sally come to terms with the fact that the heavy
chain of oppression has them both equally in its iron grip. It doesn’t favor nor distinguish
between light or dark skin, tightly coiled or wavy hair, or African or American birthright.
As they go their separate ways, they find strength in their newfound bond and shared dream of
a home where there is “no white man standing behind us with a whip or a bunch of sticks and
twigs, using our bodies for his pleasure, his profit or just whatever he got a mind to do.”

February 2024
Full production during the Rochester Bronze Collective Festival
Rochester, New York

August 2022
Professional reading at the National Black Theatre Festival
Winston-Salem, North Carolina