Del Hamilton and Faye Allen oral history interview, November 19, 2013

Item — othertype: Oral History

Identifier: M219_HamiltonD-AllenF_20131119

Staff Only

Del Hamilton and Faye Allen oral history

Go to file

Scope and Contents

Interviewed by Hillery Rink. In the interview with Del Hamilton and Faye Allen, they discuss their lives and their work with 7 Stages. The discussion starts with the beginning of 7 Stages and segues into their longstanding work in theater across different countries such as South Africa, and the Netherlands. The pair talks about their projects with the U.S. Netherlands Theatre Exchange, and how they’ve toured Europe. Hamilton and Allen later talk about their work with 7 Stages as their business, and the efforts to continue progressing with their international partnerships. They talked about the projects they’ve done and with whom they’ve done them with such as Athol Fugard with, “My Children! My Africa!”, and Adam Small with “Kanna- He is Coming Home”. Hamilton and Allen base the theme of their plays by observing the social issues around them such as race and sexuality, and have continued to support original scripts by local playwrights.

Dates

Creation: November 19, 2013

Creator

Hamilton, Del (Delbert Warren), 1942- (Interviewee, Person)
Allen, Faye, 1949- (Interviewee, Person)

Restrictions on Access

Oral history available for research.

Biographical Note

Del Hamilton was born November 8, 1942 in Youngstown, Ohio. Throughout early stages of his life, Hamilton exhibited great interest in theater. He went to graduate school at the University of Georgia and got his Masters of Fine Arts and began to teach theater and drama. He later started acting, directing, and playwriting. Hamilton helped found 7 stages in 1978 and began presenting to the public iconic shows with powerful messages about social issues. Faye Allen was born in Brooklyn, New York July 16, 1949. From a young age Faye grew up around theater and had a deep appreciation for the arts. She was raised in a very diverse culture in New York and attended Catholic school. Her first official job in theater was with Open City, which later became Open City Children’s Theater. It was at the Theater where Allen had a chance encounter with Del Hamilton while he was working with the Theatrical Outfit. After their meeting, and the split of the Theatrical Outfit, they created 7 stages in 1978.