Kate Hamill’s ‘The Light and The Dark’ closes world-premiere CTC run

In August 2022 during her honeymoon, award-winning playwright and actor Kate Hamill came face-to-face with the paintings of revolutionary Baroque artist Artemisia Gentileschi in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence.

Captivated by Gentileschi’s work, Hamill was drawn to the artist’s way of portraying women, often from Biblical texts and stories, as forces of strength and resilience through her artistry. Fueled by the life and creativity of the 17th century’s most successful female painter, Hamill put pen to paper and wrote her newest play, The Light and The Dark (the life and times of
Artemisia Gentileschi).

The play had its Chautauqua Theater Company debut last summer, with a sold-out audience in attendance for its first public reading. Last December, Chautauqua produced a private reading and workshop in New York City in partnership with the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. Now, as a finishing commission directed by CTC Producing Artistic Director Jade King Carroll, it will journey to Primary Stages in the winter, featuring the same cast and design team of Chautauqua’s production.

With a performance at 2:30 p.m. today in Bratton Theater, The Light and The Dark wraps its Chautauqua run, and the curtain will officially close on the summer season for CTC.

Last season, CTC produced Hamill’s Pride and Prejudice under Carroll’s direction, and while collaborating on the play, Hamill told Carroll she was writing a new script inspired by her Florence trip. She sent Carroll her new piece, and Carroll immediately gravitated toward its storytelling
and language.

“It’s such an incredible story based on a real person, and I don’t think enough people know about (Artemisia’s) art, let alone her life,” Carroll said. “It’s very theatrical, and Kate is a brilliant writer.”

Shortly after reading the script, Carroll put a finishing commission on the play and said she wanted to help Hamill develop it for a world premiere at CTC. From there, Carroll said she had full faith in the show and believed it would grow into a monumental piece of theater at Chautauqua.

Known for writing contemporary stage adaptations of novels like Jane Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice and Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Hamill was named “Playwright of the Year” in 2017 by The Wall Street Journal and hailed as one of the most-produced playwrights in America every year from 2017 to 2023 by American Theatre magazine.

A native of Lansing who holds a BFA in acting from Ithaca College, she grew up in a dairy farmhouse in “a town with more cows than people” and always had her nose buried in a book, she told American Theatre in 2017.

As a playwright, she often adds a modern twist to classic stories and focuses on female-centered narratives that explore social and gender issues. As an actor, she sometimes stars as the dynamic characters she brings to life — and Artemisia Gentileschi was one of those figures she wanted to embody.

Gentileschi became an artist in Rome when it was nearly impossible for women to do so. As Caravaggio’s only female follower, her work showcased techniques of color and naturalism, and she later joined the Academy of the Arts of Drawing in Florence as the first woman. Her artistic accomplishments were soon overshadowed by the story of painter Agostino Tassi raping her in 1612 and the painful trial that followed; The Light and The Dark delves into Gentileschi’s determination to overcome her trauma and rediscover her voice, and examines how her work continues to empower modern audiences.

During rehearsals for The Light and The Dark, Carroll said it was important to follow the play, which captures Gentileschi’s difficult moments of enduring discrimination and violence, as closely to the writing as possible — something she said she always strives to do when working with a playwright.

“My intended vision is really to always follow the playwright and what the play wants,” she said. “‘What is this? What is the style of the play that has been written, and how do I underline and enhance that?’”

Diving deep into the world of 1600s Renaissance Rome, Carroll spent months researching artwork, including Gentileschi’s paintings, with the creative team to better understand the storytelling and design elements.

Through the show’s costume designs, specifically the main character’s blue gown worn in Act One, Carroll said the team wanted to infuse elements of Gentileschi’s paintings into the clothing to tie the piece together.

“You can see whispers of the people in her paintings on some of the costume traces on stage throughout the play,” she said.

By researching the studios displayed in still life paintings, listening to music and studying books about the time period, Carroll was intrigued, making comparisons to modern studios and experimenting with color palettes and textures.

“There’s an anachronistic angle to this play that is timeless,” she said. “There’s something timeless in the story and experience, and there’s something timeless in an artist studio.”

Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of developing this new story was witnessing Hamill shift between the roles of playwright and lead actor, Carroll said — sometimes even miming putting on different hats mid-conversation, moving from actor to playwright and back. Through both of those roles, she remained transparent about the conversation she wanted the play to have with audiences, while staying true to Gentileschi’s narrative.

For over a year, Carroll developed the play with Hamill through the lens of a playwright. Now, through a newer, shorter journey, the two formed a unique actor-director relationship.

“I am ever-astounded by Kate’s brilliance and tenacity,” Carroll said. 

As The Light and The Dark finishes its world premiere, Carroll said she hopes the play encourages audiences to come together, fight for what they believe and to never give up.

“It’s a story of survival, perseverance, artistic bravery, passion, talent, sheer willfulness and the importance of expression,” she said.

With a wrap on her second season at the helm of CTC, Carroll said she is grateful for the casts, creative teams, playwrights and audiences that formed a community and connected through art, and she is looking onward and upward from here.

“We’ve told important stories and uplifted some incredible playwrights all because of the bravery of the people, audiences, staff and artists in having those conversations,” she said. “That is what I’m looking forward to next year.”