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Actor LisaGay Hamilton comes from a family of very strong women. A self-proclaimed “Long Islander”, having been born in L.A. but raised in Long Island, Hamilton says that acting was always in her. Entertaining those strong women in her life became, as she explains it, “a way for me to get through the crack – to be humorous, jokey, and dramatic. Also, my grandmother and I used to watch soap operas together, as she called them “the stories”, so that played a part in it and it was just always something that I was good at. I wasn’t good at math or science. I loved to read. But really, acting was the thing that made me the happiest.”
Hamilton’s childhood activities centered around drama and drama camps and when it was time for college, she majored in drama at NYU. At that point she says she knew it was indeed what she “really, really wanted to do” and she went on to deepen her craft at Juilliard. Although she has become known for her many television and film roles, her love and her real goal was always theater.
“That was and remains my first love,” says Hamilton. She began doing theater regionally and in New York and would come out to L.A. for pilot season which would fund her rent and theater endeavors. This went on for a few years and her third pilot season was the “charm” when she booked her breakthrough role on “The Practice”, which she starred in for seven seasons.
While starring in films like Beautiful Boy, True Crime, and Beloved, and TV series like The Practice, Lincoln Lawyer, and Winning Time, Hamilton has always returned to the theatre. “I love telling stories – stories that are important, meaningful, that get people to think,” she explains. “I love language and the power of the actor – that I have the ability to capture “the conscience of the king” – I can make people cry, I can make them laugh, I can make them think, I can make them angry. I can ideally bring all of us into a common space called a theater, where we’re engaging in some sort of dialogue. That’s what it feels like when I’m doing theatre.”
Hamilton is currently taking on the role of “Mama” in Zora Howard’s “Stew” at Pasadena Playhouse. “The play spoke to me,” she says, and luckily for us, all the pieces fell into place for her to say yes. Mama is a woman in her late 50’s, early 60’s, a complex character who has experienced grief in her life. The story takes place over the course of a morning with Mama and her girls, two daughters and a granddaughter, preparing her famous stew and other dishes for a big event. “The story becomes how these women in her life respond to the grief, how do they survive this,” says Hamilton. “All of this comes on the day of a special celebration and it is about grief, perseverance – it’s about love. It’s about the ability to survive great loss. I think I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that this really is about black women and the loss of their children to violence and how they grapple with that.”
Indeed the play is written, directed and performed by women of color – written by Zora Howard, directed by Tyler Thomas and stars Roslyn Ruff, Jasmine Ashanti, and Samantha Miller along with Hamilton. When I ask what has surprised her working on “Stew”, Hamilton says “The women that I get to play with are just really superb and it’s always a wonderful surprise. When you’re doing a play, you never know who you’re going to get in the pot, but we’re doing quite well all together – it’s very tasty! I’m surprised by how the play could seem like a kitchen table comedy – it could appear that way. But there’s more to it than that. And finding all of those colors is just really surprising and challenging and interesting.”
Hamilton wants the audience to know that there is no intermission so it is advisable to go to the bathroom beforehand because as she says, “it’s a fast-moving play. Once the lights are up, it’s a train and you really have no choice but to get on board. I think they’ll be surprised by the humor, by the thoughtfulness – I think they’ll be surprised by the language – Zora is really quite a brilliant playwright. And I think she captures quite well the vernacular of this particular community in this particular time.”
The play is set in Mount Vernon, New York and the time period is “some time ago, but not too long ago. Let’s say somewhere around the millennium – the most recent millennium.” It is an invitation to a morning in the life of these three generations of women and I can tell you, it is time well spent. All of the performances are riveting with Hamilton leading the foursome in a captivating and powerful portrayal of Mama. At once universal and unique, the play offers a compelling window into the deeply layered experience of black women in America.
Hamilton hopes that audiences will leave thinking – “not only about the play itself, but a bit about the topics that are brought up. There’s nothing like the curtain going down and people going, ‘wow, did you get that? Did you understand that?’ or ‘I think this happened or I think that happened.’ I’m hoping that it’s not that we leave them guessing but that we leave them thinking. That they are a thoughtful audience who can grapple with what they just saw.”
This will be Hamilton’s first time performing at the Playhouse and she adds, “the fact that it’s a Tony winning regional theater just makes it even all the more exciting!”
STEW is now playing at the Pasadena Playhouse through August 6, 2023. The Playhouse is located at 39 South El Molino Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91101. Tickets start at $35 and can be purchased online at PasadenaPlayhouse.org or by calling (626) 356-7529 or in person at the theater box office. Performances are Wed-Fri at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm & 8pm, and Sundays at 2pm and 7pm
