The founder and artistic director of New York City's La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club, Ellen Stewart (born 1920) is credited with creating the oldest remaining, and most influential, Off-Off Broadway theater. In addition, she is considered a pioneer in the development of international theater by providing a home for artists from more than 70 nations and for bringing American plays to audiences around the world.
An African American fashion designer who became one of the most important names in twentieth-century theater, Stewart has been praised for making La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (LaMaMa ETC) the leading avant-garde theater in the United States. By providing a supportive environment for both artists and audiences, she created a venue that allows playwrights to develop without the pressures of traditional or "mainline" theater. Stewart founded La MaMa (the name is accented on the second syllable) in 1961 on the Lower East Side of New York, the area in which it still remains.
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