Women to Watch: Elizabeth
ELIZABETH BROGHANNE JESSAMINE
Elizabeth Broghanne Jessamine always loved theatre and the magic of storytelling. She was born in Scotland and found that acting was her favorite way to express herself. She performed in numerous cultural festivals throughout Scotland and Germany, which explored social issues before moving to New York City in 2012 to pursue her dreams. Since graduating from the New York Conservatory of Dramatic Arts, she has performed in theatre, film and voiceover.
Frustrated by the industry and determined to gain control of her life, career and passion, Elizabeth decided in 2018 that she “didn’t want to wait for someone else to give me a job or to decide to do work that did good in the world.” Elizabeth and her best friend, Mikayla Olivia Orrson, came together to write and perform a play, which led to the birth of Elemental Women Productions. They were founded on the principles that all of their projects “would be written and led by women, everyone gets paid, and they have to improve the world in some way.”
“We started out with a single 20 page one act play that we developed into two one acts to be performed in Playwrights Downtown Black Box. We figured it out - how to run concessions, booking rehearsals and performance space, casting, scheduling, budgeting, how to build a website and blog. Every project EWP produces, we learn something new, but our core values stay the same.”
To find out more about EWP, visit their Instagram page: @elementalwomenproductions and website: www.elementalwomenproductions.com
Cheers to women who follow their passions and take matters into their own hands! Thank you for joining me on another Women to Watch Wednesday.
Best,
Yansi
P.S. EWP’s film, A Series on Surviving, is currently being screened online for the Agoraphobia Film Festival. A Series on Surviving uses poetry to follow the inner thoughts of survivors after sexual assault. Though there are no graphic scenes, it may be distressing. Elizabeth says, “I hope that if you do watch our film and you are a survivor, you feel you are not alone in this, and if not, it may give some insight to what a survivor may experience in their day to day life.”
