The Off-Broadway Theatre Review: The Public Theater’s Sally & Tom

By Ross

A simple dance to a well-played violin masks the compelling undertones of The Public Theater‘s fascinating new play, Sally & Tom, written with a sharp edge by Suzan-Lori Parks (Topdog/Underdog). The deep dive, we are reminded, “is not a love story,” but a clever investigation into the story of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings. Unpacked on two levels, unaware from the onset, we watch a shoestring-style theater troupe by the name of “Good Company“, attempt to stage a period piece drama about the complicated, and historic relationship of these two. Simply called “The Pursuit of Happiness,” it’s a clear reminder of what is at the core of this play within a play, which attempts to “speak truth to power“, while not always finding the path to victory. The play, clocking in at two hours and thirty-five minutes, rarely falters in its fascinating layering, but it also doesn’t manage to find its way to rise up beyond the straightforward intellectualisms.

Beginning at the end, Luce, played strongly by Sheria Irving (Public’s White Noise), is struck with a feeling of discomfort in her own last few lines of the play. It’s a play she has written and stars in as Sally Hemings, the slave who had a long-lasting affair (and numerous children) with Thomas Jefferson, yet she’s perplexed by this internal feeling. The framework in those last few moments of the play doesn’t exactly sit well inside her soul, especially as her boyfriend, Mike, played by Gabriel Ebert (Public’s Gently Down the Stream), who is both the director of her play and is performing the role of Thomas, suggests they hold hands for the last few moments. The rehearsal abruptly comes to a halt, altering the platform in a sharp wonderful instant, and all the actors, playing actors (and some other backstage duty) throw suggestions around, hoping to help.

The biggest question being asked is whether this Founding Father actually loved this woman, pointing out the uncomfortable fact that he kept her as his slave rather than freeing her when he was able. And how could this woman aged 14 and kept as property, love him back? It’s a very clever unraveling that registers strongly, as Parks grapples with and explores this explosive subject. As the author of the Declaration of Independence, a document that declared that all men are created equal, Jefferson continued to own enslaved people on his estate, including his ‘beloved’ Sally. Parks, as described in the program notes by Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director of the Public, “doesn’t just write about freedom, although that is her great subject: she embodies it in the process of her own creation.” And inside the play within a play, she challenges long-held assumptions of this pair, while also weaving in the story of the Good Company and its pregnancy parallels, as we watch this radical downtown troupe of actors navigate a system that is ruled by funding and other complications that come into play behind the scenes.

When the actors abruptly drop their 18th-century stance and return to their modern personas, the edges of the play become more entertaining and captivating, but maybe not as profound, dancing through doorways and behind curtains exposing touches of lightness and seriousness within almost the same beat. Each actor has a sideline job inside the company, from scenic designer to stage manager, while also portraying at least one role in the production. The pursuit gives sly witty opportunities for jokes and jabs about the art of theatre-making, with post-it notes being thrown at the playwright from moneyman Terry asking for alterations to the writing. It’s a complex conundrum, probably known well by someone like Parks, who continues to challenge the complicated issues of our time. Much like Luce.

Embedded within the play, there is a TV actor, played forcibly by Alano Miller (McCarter’s Brother/Sister Plays) who has stepped down onto the stage so he can deliver some serious lines; and a stage manager, wonderfully embodied by Sue Mee Chomet (LCT’s brownsville song…) who dreams of being a serious actor, as she takes on, quite wonderfully, the secondary role of the youngest of Jefferson’s two daughters. The other older daughter, played wisely by Kate Nowlin (“Blood Stripe”), unwinds wonderfully, while holding her breath on a big acting break that lingers on the horizon. There is commentary on nontraditional casting within the system, white actors being cast in “Black Plays“, and what the definition of that label really means. The play within a play’s set designer, Geoff, wonderfully portrayed by Daniel Petzold (59E59’s Switzerland), is that actor who takes on every role or action given, while leading us through the process day by day, as he leads himself through his own anxiety and attraction. Miller as TV actor, Kwame, along with Kristolyn Lloyd (ATC’s Blue Ridge) as actor Maggie, and Leland Fowler (TNG’s one in two) as actor Devon; play Hemings’ brother and sister, James and Mary, and her brother-in-law, Nathan in the “Pursuit” play, navigating and unveiling Jefferson’s treatment of his enslaved people and what will become of them when Jefferson leaves for Washington.

Directed smoothly inside the backstage chaos by Steve H. Broadnax III (Broadway’s Thoughts of a Colored Man), the formula delivers on all fronts and planes, played out to strong effect on a simple, but effective stage designed with care by Riccardo Hernandez (Broadway’s Frankie and Johnny), with superb costuming by Rodrigo Muñoz (Minetta Lanes’ Sorry for Your Loss), distinct lighting by Alan C. Edwards (Vineyard’s Harry Clarke), and a strong sound design by J. Jared Janas (Public’s The Low Road). Much of the contemporary commentary revolves around the money that is financing the show. The money, named Teddy, unseen and just referred to by Ebert’s director/actor/boyfriend Mike, is determined to have a complex, somewhat incendiary speech dropped, an interference that riles the TV actor, and the playwright. One holds to their faith, while the other, falters, in an unexplained configuration.

The speech, delivered by Kwame’s character, James, against the oppression experienced, is Miller’s finest moment, and maybe the play’s, as it gets to the heart of the conflict, both then and now. It breathes life into the question and conflict around Jefferson owning a few hundred slaves, including his mistress, Sally, and not freeing any of them when he could, even when promised. Ben Franklin and George Washington did exactly that, and even though it was on their deathbed, those two men rose up to the Jefferson idea of equality. Jefferson left that liberating act up to his daughter, after his death. So it is difficult to take in his mid-play proclamation of not being a ‘bad man‘.

On the more contemporary side of things, the framework is not as clear, with Luce and Mike mirroring Sally and Tom, in frameworks that are paralleled, but not as fleshed out emotionally. Sally & Tom is not nearly as rough and tumble as Good Company’s The Pursuit of Happiness”. The production is Public polished and clear, although the gay relationship that is developed throughout fails to really find its understated importance in the proceedings. It’s cute and connecting, like most of the modern side of the play, but the serious part remains steadfast in the bad play within the good play.