Support Affecting Expression:
A New Queer Play at The Tank
Support Affecting Expression at The Tank! has raised $3,035 out of their goal of $5,000
We are so excited to bring Affecting Expression to The Tank this October for its professional premiere! We'd love your help raising the funds needed to bring our show to the stage!
About the Campaign
The Play:
Affecting Expression explores queer history and three female artists’ multi-layered relationships with each other, art-making, legacy, and home. In 1852, renowned crossdressing Shakespearean actress Charlotte Cushman retires from the stage to move to Rome with her long-term partner, writer Matilda Hays. Joining their party is an eccentric young sculptor named Harriet Hosmer and an enigmatic figure representing Charlotte’s stage persona.
As the women navigate their intersecting artistic paths and the complexities of their relationships, the walls of their home and boundaries between art and reality become increasingly unreliable. Imagining a queer household before modern language to describe that experience, this tragicomedy combines history with fantastical elements to explore the thin line between finding and losing oneself in art.
Our Goals:
Throughout this process, we’ve found that while this story is grounded in a specific moment in history, it feels surprisingly recognizable. Through this play, we want to highlight the experiences of these queer women who are undersung by mainstream history, but more importantly, we want to tell a story that we and other queer women artists today can look to and see our experiences, emotions, friendships, relationships, and artistry, reflected in an honest way.
Where your money goes:
$3000 compensating the cast and team
$1600 costumes, props, sets, and rehearsal space
$400 administrative expenses and marketing
We are incredibly grateful for any and all donations! Every little bit counts towards our goal of bringing queer history to life and supporting the queer artists working on this show.
Production Info & The Team
Affecting Expression
By Eliana Cohen-Orth
Produced by Kate Semmens, Presented by The Tank
312 W 36th St, New York, NY
October 12 at 3 PM
October 7, 9, 11, 13 at 7:00 PM
The Team:
Eliyana Abraham - Director
Giao Vu Dinh - Stage Manager
BT Hayes - Lighting Designer
Olivia Kormos - Intimacy Director
The Cast:
Nora Aguiar (Charlotte Cushman)
Paige Elizabeth Allen (Matilda Hays)
Juliette Carbonnier (Hatty Hosmer)
Sam Melton (Dramatis Personae)
Campaign Activity
Thank you to our donors!
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Our Story
June 2017
Eliana Cohen Orth received Charlotte Cushman’s biography — When Romeo was a Woman by Lisa Merrill — as a high school graduation gift from her teacher Ann Carroll and read it that summer. Intrigued by Cushman’s story, Eliana knew she wanted to someday write a play about her.
June 2020
Eliana finally returned to Charlotte Cushman for her senior thesis in playwriting at Princeton University! As she further researched Cushman’s life, she was fascinated by the other women in Cushman’s circles, including a community of female writers and artists living in Rome. This community included Matilda Hays-British novelist, translator, journalist, and advocate for women's rights, and Charlotte's long-term partner-and Harriet Hosmer, who would eventually become the most well-known female sculptor in America in the 19th century. These three women became the core of Affecting Expression.
April 2021
The first draft was read and workshopped by Eliana’s quarantine household; this original group included director Eliyana Abraham and cast members Paige Allen and Nora Aguiar!
October 2022
A year and a half later, Eliyana directed an academic production of Affecting Expression for her directing thesis. This production introduced the other 2 cast members performing in this upcoming production — Juliette Carbonnier and Sam Melton!
February 2024
When Eliyana graduated and moved to NYC, she and Eliana continued to workshop the play in a reading with Kitchen Sink Theatre Company at The Sheen Center,which brought lighting designer BT Hayes to the Affecting Expression team and introduced Producer Kate Semmens to the piece.
NOW
After over 3 years of development, we are so thrilled to premiere the first professional NYC production of Affecting Expression and to share it with YOU!
Other Ways to Support
- Come see the show at The Tank in October! Buy tickets here: https://thetanknyc.org/calendar-1/affectingexpression
Follow our process on instagram @Affecting.expression
Tell your friends!
