TOP Laureate Ellen Stewart

The 19th

Laureate

Theatre/ Film

Ellen Stewart

Ellen Stewart founded the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in downtown New York in 1961. Since then,her groundbreaking vision as a creator,director and producer has encouraged some of the most important performing art talents in the world. Stewart came to New York in 1950,aspiring to be a fashion designer,and became the first African American executive designer at Saks Fifth Avenue. With her earnings as a designer,she committed to making an environment for struggling playwrights to fully develop their talents. In a period of strong racial prejudice,she had to defend the theater space she created and frequently had to change its location after being accused of operating without a license. She jokingly says that rather than theater she was originally interested in people doing theater and that nothing has changed since. Some of the artists she supported include Robert de Niro,Sam Shepard,and Andy Warhol. She has also been a champion of Asian artists,and in the 1970s,Shuji Terayama and his troupe and Tokyo Kid Brothers under Yutaka Higashi performed at La MaMa. Recently she has extended her activities,developing theater pieces based on folklore and classic tradition.

Biography

For the past five decades,Ellen Stewart has been at the forefront of creating,directing,producing and presenting some of the most original and memorable works of performing arts in the United States,as well as in Asia,Africa,Europe,the Middle East,and Central and South America.

Stewart’s performing arts career began in 1961,when she founded the La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York. La MaMa quickly became the most popular venue in the United States for the works of both new and established playwrights,directors,actors,composers,musicians,and dancers. In the course of staging over 2,000 productions at La MaMa,Stewart has displayed a remarkable ability to recognize and nurture talent in others,and she has been a unique source of inspiration and support for countless artists and audiences throughout the world.

Stewart came to New York in 1950,aspiring to be a fashion designer,and became the first African American executive designer at Saks Fifth Avenue. With her earnings as a designer,she committed to doing whatever she could to create an environment for struggling playwrights and to make it possible for them to fully develop their talents.

In a period of strong racial prejudice,she had to defend the theater and frequently had to change its location after being accused of operating without a license. She jokingly says that rather than theater she was originally interested in people doing theater and that nothing has changed since.

Some of the artists she supported include Robert de Niro,Al Pacino,Sam Shepard,Julie Taymor,Andy Warhol,and Robert Wilson. She has also long been a champion of Asian performing artists. In the 1970s,Shuji Terayama and his troupe and the theater company Tokyo Kid Brothers under Yutaka Higashi performed at La MaMa

In addition to fostering the work of others,Stewart is recognized as an innovative and world-renowned director,playwright,and composer. Under her leadership,La MaMa’s resident theater troupe has performed in over forty countries,from Argentina to Zaire. The 2004 and 2005 performances of Antigone and Perseus that she directed in New York and her 2006 production of Asclepius in Albania and at the Venice Biennale received acclaim from audiences and critics alike.
Stewart explains the essence of La MaMa Theatre by saying "We are music and dance and language. We don’t consider language a barrier. Instead we find ways by which to communicate that language beyond the language itself." Indeed,her Trojan Women (first staged in 1974) was performed in Ancient Greek,but was received positively worldwide.
 
She passed away on January 13,2011,New York

Chronology

1919
Born in Chicago,USA
1961
Rents the first La MaMa space,a basement on 321 East 9th
1962
A Corner of the Morning by Michael Locascio,the first original play,is performed among 16 other productions in the opening year
1964
The place is named La MaMa Experimental Theater Club
1965
The La MaMa Troupe,directed by Tom O’Horgan,begins overseas performances which continue until 1968
1966
The Rockefeller Foundation (Howard Cline) gives grants to several La MaMa playwrights
1968
Ford Foundation (McNeil Lowry) gives a grant which is used for a down payment on a new space on East 4th Street
Hosts the first international theatre festival in US at Brandeis University in Waltham,Massachusetts
1969
Brings Andrei Serban,renowned stage director from Bucharest
1970
Higashi Yutaka and the Tokyo Kid Brothers'performance of Golden Bat and Terayama Shuji and Tenjosajiki’s La Marie Vison
1974
First performance of The Trojan Women by Andrei Serban and Elizabeth Swados
1982
Hatano Tatsumi opened La MaMa Tokyo in May
1985
Receives MacArthur "Genius"" Award which is used for a down payment on an artists' residence in Spoleto,Italy called La MaMa Umbria
1992
Kuramoto So’s Today,in Kanashibetsu
1993
Inducted into the Broadway Theatre Hall of Fame, the first off-off-Broadway producer to be given this honor
1994
Given the Order of the Sacred Treasure, Gold Rays with Rosette by the Japanese government
2002
Retrospective events of the Japanese productions, focusing on Terayama and Higashi The Trojan Women is performed in Toyama City with the support of the Asian Cultural Council (Richard Lanier and Ralph Samuelson)
2006
October 18, celebration of the 45th anniversary of La MaMa
(La MaMa has presented over 2700 productions, 1000 original scores, invited artists from more than 70 nations, and has received numerous awards. La MaMa is proud to have presented Ohno Kazuo, Tanaka Min, Peter Brook, Suzuki Tadashi, Takei Kei, Tom Eyen, Asakura Setsu, Tadeusz Kantor, Joel Zwick, Sakaguchi Ango, Yoo Duk Hyung, Ochi Yoshiaki, Jerzy Grotowski, Ahn Min Soo, Abe Kobo, Saito Kikuo, and many others.)
2011
Died January 13, New York
  • ©The Sankei Shimbun 2007

  • La MaMa e.t.c., New York

  • La MaMa e.t.c., New York

  • Ellen, ringing a bell of curtain-rising

  • Romeo and Juliet, 2007

  • The Trojan Women, 1974

©The Sankei Shimbun 2007

La MaMa e.t.c., New York

La MaMa e.t.c., New York

Ellen, ringing a bell of curtain-rising

Romeo and Juliet, 2007

The Trojan Women, 1974
Courtesy of La MaMa E.T.C. Archives & Library©Gerard Vezzuso