When Minnesotans say SLP, they generally mean St. Louis Park, the first-ring Minneapolis suburb. But in the theater world, SLP mostly refers to an eminence that might as well be her own municipality.
Playwright, screenwriter and bandleader Suzan-Lori Parks, who won a Pulitzer Prize for her play "Topdog/Underdog," is known for her probing poetry, imagination and often surprising interrogation of history. She continues her inquiry of the past with "Sally & Tom," which premieres Friday at the Guthrie Theater.
It is about a Black playwright, Luce (also plays Sally), and her white director partner, Mike (also plays Tom), who are working on a historical play called "The Pursuit of Happiness." The play-within-a-play orbits Founding Father Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, the trafficked teenager with whom he fathered many children. As the contemporary couple wrestle with putting on their show, the past surfaces in the present and the present drops into the past.
"What's that famous Faulkner quote, 'The past is never dead. It's not even past,'" asked Parks Tuesday before rehearsal. "This is about how the world was made, and what kind of world are we making."
The Guthrie, long known for championing the classics, welcomed the opportunity to host this world premiere, said artistic director Joseph Haj. The whole thing came about after he was contacted by Parks' agent, who also represents playwright Lynn Nottage.
"I read the play and was immediately taken by all of its complications and the brilliance of SLP's writing," Haj said.
Parks is playwright-in-residence at New York's Public Theatre, headed by Minnesota native Oskar Eustis and with whom the Guthrie is collaborating.
"I think what SLP is wrestling with is some really nuanced things in a world where we tend to put people in boxes," Haj said.
