our american queen

When ambition overwhelms conviction

Set against the backdrop of the Civil War, Our American Queen tells the extraordinary story of Kate Chase, a woman whose proximity to power reshaped the political and social landscape of her time. Daughter of presidential contender Salmon P. Chase, one of Washington’s most ambitious politicians, Kate navigated a world where her brilliance was celebrated yet constrained. Beneath her public stature, her deepest pursuit was personal — the acceptance of her father — a desire that magnified both her ambition and its cost.

The play explores the price of ambition, the fragility of reputation, and the enduring struggle for women to claim a place in the halls of power. Both intimate and sweeping, Our American Queen illuminates a pivotal chapter in American history through the eyes of a woman determined to define her own legacy in a society unwilling to grant it.

Artist statement

Our American Queen tells the story of Kate Chase, a woman whose brilliance and influence shaped the political world of Civil War America yet whose deepest desire—acceptance—was never fulfilled.

The play invites us to reconsider how history remembers women whose power was both celebrated and constrained, and what it costs to live at the edge of ambition. At a time when America’s past and future are fiercely debated, Kate’s story resonates as both history and mirror—illuminating the complexities of legacy, gender, and longing that still echo today.

Press Quotes

• “Engrossing and deft play.” - The New Criterion

• “A moving portrait of an elegant and charming young woman about to be devoured by her aspiration … underscoring the personal costs of political ambition” - The American Conservative