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Faye Allen oral history interview, July 25, 2013

 Item — othertype: Oral History
Identifier: M219_AllenF_20130725

Scope and Contents

Interviewed by Hillery Rink. In the interview Faye Allen reviews her early life and how she became engaged by the theater arts while living in New York. She recaps her life as she transitioned from the Northeast to the South, and how she experienced the cultural change from a multiracial environment to only seeing black and white. Allen enlightens us about her work in theater and how she met Del Hamilton and formed 7 stages. She reviews the issues that 7 stages wanted to address through theater such as ideas of rape, transgender, and HIV. Allen discusses how she and Hamilton decided on the name 7 stages from I Ching. Allen also discusses how their plays caused such controversy amongst the Ku Klux Klan, and how their activism stirred the minds of their audiences. The interview indulges in some of the current projects 7 stages is working on with DAH Theater, and discusses Faye and Del’s life post-retirement.

Dates

  • Creation: July 25, 2013

Creator

Restrictions on Access

Oral history available for research.

Biographical Note

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 she 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.

Extent

2 item(s) (audio (1:56:16 duration) transcript (36 pages))

Language of Materials

From the Collection: English

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Repository

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