Thursday, June 25, 2026
Unusually mild June evenings make great nights to go to a play — especially a play on a historic theme, amid increasing buzz about the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
June, therefore, is an ideal time to see “Sally & Tom” at Bethesda’s Round House Theatre. But hurry, it closes this Sunday.
Sally is Sally Hemings, the enslaved Black woman, mistress and muse of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson (Tom).
Almost three hours long, the play, by Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks, is of course the famous, contradictory story of the genius, honor, sins and arrogance of the third president of the United States. Jefferson wrote the founding documents of the new federal republic, proclaiming that all men are free and equal. At the same time, he kept hundreds enslaved, lived a patriarchal life and fathered numerous children with Hemings.
But the play was full of surprises. It opens at a formal farewell in front of Jefferson’s mansion, Monticello, with family members, advisors and household staff (many enslaved), all properly coiffed and dressed in appropriate attire. Then, when the formalities ended and after a courteous pause, the entire ensemble suddenly broke out their mobile phones and snark, complaining about changes that should be made to the play’s script, setting and theme.
Portrayed by a superb multicultural cast, this play-within-a-play moved quickly between two different centuries of dress, values and relationships. The audience seated in the beautiful theater (not a bad seat anywhere) experienced a head-snapping view of history. Quickly evolving scenes of the play set in circa-1800 Virginia, in period dress and manners, jumped without warning to the 21st century, where the iPhone-equipped cast aggressively pursued their own quests for recognition and identity — sometimes in period dress, sometimes in contemporary clothing.
At times it was distracting, especially as the tensions of relationships in diverse 21st-century America became apparent. Sometimes the speech was confused, with an enslaved women telling herself to be “mindful.” But the cast was also compassionate, cool and expressive, portraying understanding of their times as history shaped them. It was all somehow very believable.
And this cast did everything well: acting and comedy, even moving around the sets in the many scenes. That meant that, between acts, everyone quickly moved three large doorframes, a desk, a bed and a table with a full tea set (glued to the tray, as was revealed in one scene of anger and wit) to change scenes. They distinctly portrayed the rooms and gardens of Monticello and the scrappy backstage workrooms of a theater.
Most fascinating was the smooth and natural way the cast changed costumes in front of the audience. Dressed down to long underwear, they stepped into skirts and bustles, pants and girdles, vests and coats and shawls, boots and heeled shoes, tying and buttoning layer after layer. No matter how many layers the actresses wrapped around their waists, they all managed to look slim, mobile and comfortable.
In the end, the play was a love story. Even those who left the stage in rage over the cruelties of slavery felt love for one another and for the country. It seemed that all the characters knew they were part of an incredible historical development: the making of a nation with the intention of freeing men and women of every race and creed to do and become themselves.
“It was all wonderfully bittersweet,” remarked an audience member from Britain. “Even the cast got into discussions about how to change the script, the ending, just as in the opening scene,” actor Jamar Jones told The Georgetowner.
“Sally & Tom,” a play about America’s conflicted past and present, is perfect for 2026, showing how history can sometimes repeat itself in new and provocative ways.