Keri Eastridge News

Columbia's Rep Stage takes a leap into the lives of Etta And Claribel Cone in world premiere play by Susan McCully.

All She Must Possess does not suggest that the Cone Collection was Etta's work alone, but rather depicts it as the emanation of the entire community, including not only Etta, but her sister Claribel, Gertrude Stein, Gertrude's brother Leo, Alice Toklas, and the artists, for whom Matisse stands in as representative. It was out of that community's joy in creation and discussions of it (Expressionism vs. Cubism, for instance) that the Collection, a thing of transcendent value, is shown as having emerged.

Playwright Susan McCully's original production about Baltimore's famed Cone sisters, "All She Must Possess," will premiere at Rep Stage, the professional regional theatre in residence at Howard Community College (HCC). Dr. Claribel and Miss Etta Cone, daughters of German-Jewish immigrants, could have lived tranquil, appropriate lives as respected Victorian ladies. Instead, the iconic duo voraciously collected art and curios from around the world. The unassuming Etta, often overshadowed by her sister, sat demurely among art and literary geniuses of the early twentieth century, while slowly amassing one of world's greatest Modern art collections.

Playwright Susan McCully's original production about Baltimore's famed Cone sisters, 'All She Must Possess,' will premiere at Rep Stage, the professional regional theatre in residence at Howard Community College (HCC). Dr. Claribel and Miss Etta Cone, daughters of German-Jewish immigrants, could have lived tranquil, appropriate lives as respected Victorian ladies. Instead, the iconic duo voraciously collected art and curios from around the world. The unassuming Etta, often overshadowed by her sister, sat demurely among art and literary geniuses of the early twentieth century, while slowly amassing one of world's greatest Modern art collections.