Sappho's Salon

Chère amie,

You are cordially invited to an evening at my salon. Some call it Fridays, some call it my Salon de l'Amazone. In any regard, every Friday for decades, I have opened my doors to sapphic artists, thinkers, and lovers of beauty and truth. Tonight, you join us for a particularly special gathering. Radclyffe Hall will read from her forthcoming novel. Kiki de Montparnasse has crossed the river from her kingdom to sing for us. Yoshiya Nobuko brings stories all the way from Japan. Eva Palmer-Sikelianos returns from Greece to perform. My darling Romaine Brooks may have some new paintings to share. And more.

There will be readings, performances, philosophical debates, and lively discussions. After our lively salon, there will be a cocktail hour. There will be chocolate cake (Berthe never fails). There will be punch. There will be the kind of conversation that only happens when women who love women gather in a space that - according to the world's rules - should not exist. And yet, here we are. Toujours là.

What can you expect? An intimate salon-style in which you are a guest. Your perspective will be just as welcome as that of our presenters, and we will explore what it means to be queer, to be an artist, to build community. Perhaps we will find ourselves somewhere between our lovely Parisian summer of 1927 and a space that exists outside time's usual constraints.

Venez. Come as you are. The salon belongs to all of us who are brave enough to walk through that door.

Avec tendresse,

Natalie Clifford Barney

THE CAST

Natalie Clifford Barney — Danielle Levsky
Radclyffe Hall — Ania Upstill
Kiki de Montparnasse — Jen Fellman
Yoshiya Nobuko — Rosin Kuroyama
Eva Palmer-Sikelianos — Rose Palmieri
Romaine Brooks — Lane LaVonne
Featured Philadelphia Poets — TBA

PRODUCTION TEAM

Created & Directed by Ania Upstill & Danielle Levsky
Written & Devised by Danielle Levsky, Ania Upstill, Jen Fellman, Rosin Kuroyama, Rose Palmieri, Lane LaVonne
Hosted & Co-Produced with Dyke+ ArtHaus/Juno Rosenhaus

PERFORMANCE DETAILS

Dates & Times:

• Friday, November 14, 2025 — 7:30pm-9:30pm

• Saturday, November 15, 2025 — 7:30pm-9:30pm

• Sunday, November 16, 2025 — 6:00pm-8:00pm

Location: Dyke+ ArtHaus, West Philadelphia

This intimate, immersive performance experience honors the lives and artistic communities of FLINTA+ (women, lesbian, intersex, nonbinary, trans, agender) artists who created radical spaces of love, art, and community. We gather to remember them, to continue their work, and to ask: what worlds are we building together now?

This is a pilot production of this performance that we plan to keep developing into a multi-floor, immersive theatrical experience in 2026/7.

IMPORTANT: If you are NOT able to make the performance you RSVPed for, please cancel your RSVP so we can make room for more community members to attend.

RSVPS & DONATIONS

This page is for RSVPs only. Each performance is limited to 20 guests to maintain the intimate salon atmosphere.

At the door, we are accepting sliding scale donations of $15-$30 to support our artists in this production:

SLIDING SCALE BREAKDOWN:

$15 — Covers basic production costs (space rental, materials)
Suggested for those earning under $30k/year or currently unemployed/underemployed

$20 — Covers production costs + partial artist stipends
Suggested for those earning $30k-$50k/year

$25 — Covers production costs + fuller artist compensation
Suggested for those earning $50k-$75k/year

$30 — Covers full production costs + fair artist compensation + helps subsidize lower-income attendees
Suggested for those earning $75k+/year

Please pay what feels sustainable for you. No one will be turned away for lack of funds. If you're able to pay at the higher end, you're helping make this work accessible to our entire community.

Content note: This performance includes discussions of queer identity, historical oppression, class dynamics, and relationship conflicts. There will be references to historical figures' complex politics (including problematic, outdated views). The show aims to hold these complexities honestly rather than sanitize history.

Questions? Contact Danielle Levsky danielle.levsky@gmail.com and Ania Upstill ania.upstill@gmail.com.

Bienvenue. We've been waiting for you.