New Play AFFECTING EXPRESSION Will Premiere In New York With A Full Production At The Tank

Affecting Expression, a new tragicomedy about three 19th-century queer female artists will be presented by The Tank, a home for emerging artists, from October 7th to October 13th.

Affecting Expression is written by Eliana Cohen-Orth, directed by Eliyana Abraham, and is being produced by Kate Semmens in association with The Tank.

Eliana Cohen-Orth's 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 queer tragicomedy combines history with fantastical elements to explore the thin line between finding and losing oneself in art.

The complete cast of Affecting Expression includes Nora Aguiar as Charlotte Cushman, Paige Elizabeth Allen as Matilda Hays, Juliette Carbonnier as Hatty Hosmer, and Sam Melton as Dramatis Personae.

The rest of the creative and Production Team includes BT Hayes (Lighting Designer), Olivia Kormos (Intimacy Director), and Giao Vu Dinh (Production Stage Manager).

Affecting Expression was previously performed in an academic context as Eliyana Abraham's undergraduate thesis in theater at Princeton University in 2022. A staged reading was also presented by Kitchen Sink Theatre Company in February 2024 at the Sheen Center in New York City.

Eliana Cohen-Orth first became interested in Charlotte Cushman as a historical figure after reading her biography When Romeo was a Woman by Lisa Merrill. This sparked a research project that became Cohen-Orth's playwriting thesis at Princeton University, which she continued to develop over the next three years. Cushman (1816-1876) was an internationally celebrated stage actress, known in particular for playing male roles such as Hamlet and Romeo. She lived openly with female romantic partners throughout her life. For some time, Cushman was surrounded by a community of female writers and artists living in Rome, many drawn there by Cushman. 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 (and the relationships between them) are the core of Affecting Expression.

Affecting Expression will run at The Tank (312 W 36th St New York, NY, 10018) October 7, 9, 11, 13 at 7pm, with a 3pm matinee on October 12th.

Tickets and more info can be found at https://thetanknyc.org/calendar-1/affectingexpression

The Tank Presents program, which is making this production possible, "removes the daunting cost of space rental from the equation of art making and provides an affordable home for emerging artists." This production is also fiscally-sponsored by The Tank. You can learn more about The Tank's programs and resources at thetanknyc.org.

Eliana Cohen-Orth (Playwright) Eliana Cohen-Orth is a playwright, director, and all-around theatre-maker born and raised in NYC. She previously developed Affecting Expression with Princeton University's Lewis Center for The Arts and Kitchen Sink Theatre Company. Favorite directing projects include Jen Silverman's The Moors, Sarah Ruhl's Eurydice, Kate Hamill's Pride and Prejudice and Dracula, and the first production of Emma Catherine Watkins' Unbecoming. While studying English and Theater at Princeton University ('21), Eliana served as Artistic Director of Princeton Summer Theater and General Manager of Theatre Intime. She is the recipient of the Alan S. Downer Prize and the Francis LeMoyne Page Theater Award. When not making theatre, Eliana works as the Event Production Coordinator for The Center for Fiction in Brooklyn, where she combines her love of literature and her commitment to connecting audiences with innovative arts programming.

Eliyana Abraham (Director) is a Brooklyn-based director, choreographer, and actor who is passionate about the new, the strange, and the ridiculous. She is a graduate of Princeton University, where she studied theatre and neuroscience. Eliyana works in nonprofit arts development and as a freelance director and teaching artist. She is especially passionate about projects which center queerness and/or Asian American experiences. She has directed two developmental presentations of Affecting Expression previously - a NYC reading with Kitchen Sink Theatre Company and an academic production at Princeton University. Other credits: Director, The Last Five Years (Princeton Summer Theater); Actor, Pick-Nic (The Tank/BT Hayes); Director, Peerless (Princeton Summer Theater); Actor 2/Whiskey Seller, King of the Yees (McCarter Theater); Director, Electric Syrup (We Who Wander NYC); Choreographer, Cabaret (Theatre Intime).

Kate Semmens (Producer) is a director, actor, producer, and lifelong New Yorker. Kate is a proud graduate of LaGuardia High School and Princeton University. She works as the Artistic Associate at Prospect Musicals and as an independent producer, freelance assistant director, and personal assistant. Select credits include co-producer and actor in 13th Morning at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Director/Choreographer of The Hello Girls (McCarter Theatre), Asst. Director and U/S Tobias/Swing on Sweeney Todd (Hangar Theatre) and Asst. Director on The Hello Girls at the Kennedy Center. @katehsemmens and katehsemmens.com

You can learn more about Affecting Expression and current fundraising efforts here.

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