FROM THE ARTIST: "This play, Pieta, was inspired by the few things that we know about the Figlie Del Coro: that
they were disabled, female musicians taught by Vivaldi and rarely, if ever, seen. I love historical
fiction, and I wanted to bring these accomplished and often overlooked musicians into the
limelight. As a disabled artist who identifies as a woman/femme, I found this untold story to be
an incredibly important one. However, with the lack of record about these women, I had to/was
excited to take liberties.
 

Queer people who are not cis men are rarely seen in the media, especially theatre. I decided that
this would be my contribution to the rising trend of sapphic historical dramas– but with my own
signature twist. These women face not only the hardship of their disability(s), but the boundaries
set up in their time period to take away what little choice they have regarding their own lives
(especially as wards in a religious hospital/orphanage). Combine all that with a sapphic coming
of age story, untold pressure to perform artistically, and the rising threat of a marriage proposal
from a stranger, and you have a recipe for what I was excited to call a sapphic experimental play
with music.
 

I hope you enjoy these few scenes from my latest draft."​

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ABOUT THE ARTIST: Brynn Hambley (she/they) is a queer and disabled playwright, theatre artist, devising artist, theatre educator, podcast host, and freelance writer based in the New York City area via New Jersey. She earned her BA in Theatre Arts from Gettysburg College and her MFA in Theatre from Sarah Lawrence College. In the past, she was a Featured Artist for Theatre Viscera, 2022 (The Eleventh Star); she was a Finalist for The Independent International Award for Improper Dramaturgy, 2019/2020 (Antidotal); received the Emile O. Schmidt Award for Excellence in Theatre, 2018; and The Mercury Poetry Award, 2017. Brynn's plays have been developed with many companies, and her poetry, essays, and short plays have been published in The Mercury; Best Emerging Poets in Pennsylvania; Best Emerging Poets in America; The Perch (It is July); and The Coachella Review (Somebody Was Here). Member of Cut Edge Collective; Member of Storyteller's Studio; Resident Artist at First Kiss Theatre; Teaching Artist at NJPAC.