Sappho's Salon is an immersive, interactive theater experience inspired by the multiracial lineage of lesbian and queer women artists from the late 1800s to early 1900s. Drawing from the women in Selby Wynn Schwartz's novel After Sappho and the diverse community surrounding Natalie Barney's legendary Paris salon, the production transforms physical spaces into participatory experiences where audiences encounter historical figures like Natalie Barney, Radclyffe Hall, Romaine Brooks, Josephine Baker, and others alongside contemporary queer poets and visual artists.

The first iteration of Sappho's Salon (November 2025) sold out three performances and served over 60 community members at Dyke+ ArtHaus in West Philadelphia. Born out of "Fragments of Lesbos" reading circles that explored sapphic history through community discussion, the project grew in response to overwhelming demand for deeper, more embodied engagement with this material. The pilot demonstrated that audiences are hungry for immersive queer theater that honors our history while building present-day community.

With support from the Leeway Foundation's Art & Change Grant, we are expanding Sappho's Salon into a multi-floor immersive experience for Spring 2026 (May 1-3 and May 8-10) at Dyke+ ArtHaus. The expanded production features a larger cast of FLINTA+ performers, dedicated immersive rooms where audiences encounter historical sapphic figures through looping intimate performances, a downstairs scripted salon play, and extended rehearsal development time. Each performance is limited to 15–20 guests to maintain the intimate, participatory atmosphere that made our pilot so powerful.

100% of funds raised go directly towards the artists involved in this production. Your tax-deductible donation helps fund:

Sappho's Salon is created and directed by Ania Upstill and Danielle Levsky, and co-produced with Dyke+ ArtHaus. Our casting prioritizes FLINTA+ and sapphic-identifying performers, with intentional attention to representation: historical figures from underrepresented backgrounds are portrayed by performers who share those identities.

Danielle Levsky (they/she) is a queer West Philly-based transdisciplinary artist and community curator whose creative practice brings together clown performance, physical theatre, community healing, and embodied storytelling. Rooted in their experience as a child of Soviet Jewish refugees, Danielle creates art that explores diaspora, resilience, and the transformative power of collective laughter. Her artistic approach centers on breaking down barriers between performers and audience, using clown to reveal the profound connections that emerge through shared vulnerability and play.

Ania (they/them) is a queer and trans performer, director, theatre maker and clown. A graduate of the Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre, much of their work is transdisciplinary, including the forms of theater, clown, circus and music. As a Joker for Theater of the Oppressed NYC, a professional teaching artist, and an Applied Theater maker, they are deeply interested in how to use theater forms and techniques to help people engage their curiosity, develop deeper understanding, and make meaning of the world around them. 

Together, they created and performed War and Play at Lincoln Center in June 2023, where Danielle's nonverbal clown show about Russia's war on Ukraine was commissioned by National Queer Theater. Since then, they have continued working together on remounting War and Play with Ania's Butch Mermaid Productions for PhysFestNYC (January 2024) and Philly Fringe/Cannonball (September 2024), as well as co-facilitating community clown devising workshops and class presentations throughout 2024-2025.

Ania’s company Butch Mermaid Productions has presented work at Queerly Festival (NYC), Dixon Place (NYC), New Zealand Fringe, Auckland Pride (NZ), Adelaide Fringe Festival (AUS), Edinburgh Fringe Festival (UK) and the Kennedy Center (DC). The focus of BMP is to make queer joy irresistible and contagious, envisioning a world where all queer people experience joy and belonging.

Currently, Danielle creates and hosts monthly Philly Full Moon on Fire community rituals combining performance, ritual, and collective care practices (2024-2025); co-facilitates Philly Clown Slam, a monthly community space for clown artists to share work and build connections (2024-2025), and produces and performs original full length and variety show work.

Building on their collaborative relationship, Dani created "Fragments of Lesbos" reading circles at Dyke+ ArtHaus in June 2025, exploring sapphic history through community discussion. The overwhelming positive response and audience feedback about the transformative power of embodying these historical relationships revealed a profound hunger for more extensive exploration of this material.

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