“All things theater,” Stephen Hamilton is an iconic legend on the East End. He is a founder of Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor. Mr. Hamilton’s accomplishments and successes as an actor and director make a list way too long to mention. His next success will be his direction of playwright Tennessee Williams’ masterpiece, “A Streetcar Named Desire,” which is being produced at Bay Street Theater starting November 14th and running through December 1st. The show is the mainstay of this year’s 16th Literature Live! A program that will enable thousands of school-aged children to experience this play live on stage for free.
Mr. Hamilton was kind enough to share his insights and thoughts with Hamptons.com about this undertaking. He said, “The idea of doing this play germinated at Bay Street, where they look for classic pieces of literature in the theater that will lend itself to this venue (Literature Live!), primarily for schools.”
Stephen Hamilton is excited about his first actual direction of a play at Bay Street Theater in seventeen years, a theater he helped design along with the hired architects; he said the stage and seating is designed “… in the spirit of the Mitzi Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center,” built while he was the Executive Director. He added. “Alan O’Reilly (Bay Street Theater Director of Education & Community Outreach) and (Bay Street Artistic Director) Scott Schwartz picked the show.” Still, Mr. Hamilton added, “My sense is they were wondering what would be good in this year’s slot, and then the next discussion was who would be good to direct, and fortunately, they thought of me, and I am very happy.”
Hamilton selected the cast to include local actors, saying, “I was able to find my principals (actors) who did have housing out here, with a handful who are New York City-based and happen to have housing out here.” The talented cast includes Shea Buckner, Matthew Conlon, Carlos Garcia, Nicole Marie Hunt, Daniela Mastropietro, Adelaide Mestre, Joe Pallister, Katie Rodgers, and Sawyer A. Spielberg.
It was a challenge to condense the play, which runs for three hours in its original form. Director Hamilton mentioned, “This is such a classic for the American theater, and the language is so beautiful, so lyrical that it is almost a sin to cut anything out of it.” Therefore, he said, “With the help of Alan O’Reilly, the play has been “worked out” to be presented, “preserving what Tennessee’s (Williams, playwright) intention was and, at the same time, doing what we needed to do to create a format.”
When asked what excites him about this production, Stephen Hamilton said, “First of all, it is the material. Tennessee Williams is one of the great American playwrights of the 20th century. As an actor, I grew up working on young parts in Tennessee’s canon. The second most exciting thing is to be back at Bay Street, which is a real thrill for me, having built this theater and run it for 17 years. Being back here feels like home.”
Then Mr. Hamilton dug deep and, in a most sincere tone, said, “The third interesting thing in no particular order is this cast. I just feel so blessed to have this group of actors and artists, not just the cast but the production crew of designers and production personnel, who are just really on top of their game. It’s a wonderful company, and I am just thrilled to be a part of it.”
“A Streetcar Named Desire” is an intense play, and to tune it for a young audience yet preserve the integrity of playwright Williams’ words will be a challenge.” On this matter, Director Hamilton explained, “One of my first questions to production was, you understand that there is a rape implied and that it (the play) has all this stuff, and I am not willing to do the show without that in it. It is integral to the piece, and they said, ‘Yes, so with that in mind, we are sailing right ahead.” For all theater fans, this show will most definitely be a must-see and attend.
The first performance of this production of Tennessee William’s “Streetcar Named Desire“ is on November 14th, and the show will run until December 1st at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor.
