Aim & Sympathy was born from another play, This One Thing I Do, that the playwrights appeared in at Portland's New Rose Theatre. While researching the lives of Anthony and Stanton in preparation for their roles, Worley and Olson Dieter realized the real lives and words of these two historical women were even more compelling than the fictionalized version they were rehearsing. Aim & Sympathy was originally performed as part of the Oregon Council for the Humanities Chautauqua Program.

Kathleen Worley is a professor of theatre at Reed College. She received her B.A. in Theatre from Pomona College and her M.F.A. in Theatre from the University of California at Riverside. A member of Actors' Equity, she has performed with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, the Players' Club (NYC) and various summer stock and professional theatre companies in the Northwest, appearing as Joni (the President) in Lips and Theo in The Ride Down Mt. Morgan at Profile Theatre. Her most recent project is a one-woman show, Crossing the Bridge of Magpies - Journeys Into China, using techniques drawn from Chinese opera and storytelling to dramatize her grandparents' time as missionaries in south China beginning in 1903. In addition, she has presented historical characters for the Great Basin and OCH Chautauqua programs. Most of her directing work has been at Reed, where she has directed nearly twenty shows, including On the Verge, Cherry Orchard, Beggar's Opera and Much Ado About Nothing.

Diane Olson-Dieter was a founding member of Artists Repertory Theatre. She has appeared in numerous productions on Portland stages. She has a MFA from the University of Portland. She has taught at Clackamas and Portland Community College. Her favorite roles include; Anne Sullivan in The Miracle Worker, Ada Lovelace in Childe Byron, The Wife in LaRonde, Gabrielle in Serenading Louie, Masha in The Three Sisters, Ariel in The Tempest and Elizabeth Cady Stanton in Aim & Sympathy.