Stewart, Ellen (1931– )

US theatre producer and director. Her companies – known variously as La Mama, Cafe La Mama, and La Mama ETC (Experimental Theater Club) – performed countless plays by avant-garde, international, and young American playwrights; toured widely and to great acclaim; and set up branches throughout the world. She is recognized as a major influence in late-20th-century theatre.

She was born in Alexandria, Louisiana. She started out as an elevator operator and clothing designer, and was self-taught in the drama and theatrical arts; she married five times. She set up her own little theatre in a New York tenement basement in 1962.