Zach Theater is opening the curtain on one of the most talked-about new plays in America. Sally & Tom, now playing at the Kleberg at Zach, blends history, humor, and contemporary conversations into a thought-provoking theatrical experience that asks audiences to reconsider the stories we tell—and who gets to tell them.
Cast members Angelique Archer and Charlene Hong White joined We Are Austin to share what makes Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks’ latest work unlike anything else on stage.
Cast members Angelique Archer and Charlene Hong White joined We Are Austin to share what makes Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan-Lori Parks’ latest work unlike anything else on stage.
A Play Within a Play
At its core, Sally & Tom follows a contemporary theater company called Good Company as they rehearse a new play about Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson.
“It is the story of a group of cast members called Good Company that come together to put on The Pursuit of Happiness, which is the story of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson,” Archer explained.
The production moves seamlessly between the rehearsal room and 1790s America, allowing audiences to experience both stories simultaneously.
“We fall into the play and out of the play and get to learn about ourselves by watching these actors come together,” Archer said.
(L to R) Amy Downing as Ginger/Patsy, Angelique Archer as Luce/Sally and Olivia D. Dawson as Maggie/Mary in Sally & Tom at Zach Theater. Photo by AxelB Photography.
Past and Present Collide
For Hong White, one of the play’s greatest strengths is the way it connects history to today’s conversations.
“You’ve got one foot in the world of the contemporary Good Company,” she said. “And then you’ve got one foot in the world of Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson in 1790 America.”
While the settings are centuries apart, she says audiences quickly discover how deeply intertwined the themes remain.
“The more things change, the more things stay the same,” Hong White said.
The Cast of Sally & Tom at Zach Theater. Photo by AxelB Photography.
Giving Voice to Untold Stories
Archer plays both Luce, the playwright leading the production within the play, and Sally Hemings, whose life has often been overlooked or incompletely documented in history.
“There is so much that we don’t know about her,” Archer said. “This is Suzan-Lori Parks’ interpretation of history because there is so much that we don’t know about Sally Hemings.”
She says the play asks audiences to think critically about whose stories are preserved and whose are left untold.
“What is the story that we are telling, and what is the world that we want to make?” Archer said.
Finding Your Place in the Story
Hong White portrays Scout, the stage manager of Good Company, as well as Polly, one of Thomas Jefferson’s daughters.
Scout, an Asian American theater artist, wrestles with where she fits into a story centered on early American history.
“She’s asking questions of how she fits into the conversation,” Hong White said.
As the rehearsal process unfolds, Scout also steps into acting for the first time, reflecting the play’s larger themes of growth, discovery and learning together.
Charlene Hong White as Scout/Polly and Cast in Sally & Tom at Zach Theater. Photo by AxelB Photography.
See Sally & Tom at Zach Theater
Sally & Tom runs through August 23 at The Kleberg at Zach Theater.
Tickets and additional information are available at ZachTheater.org.
Zach Theater’s “Sally & Tom” tells a powerful and hilarious story within a story