Linda Haston’s desire for a life in the theater began in childhood. Encouraged by her parents, who provided her with singing, acting, dance and piano lessons, she pursued a bachelor’s degree in theater and speech communication from Carlow University and a master’s degree in fine arts from Ohio University.
Like many other actors and theater professionals, she has had some struggles, but she has managed to live a life as an actress, director and theater teacher with the help of assorted jobs, including an eight-year stint as a law firm temp.
Her resume shows she has acted in 24 plays locally, in New York and elsewhere and directed 15 plays in the Pittsburgh area alone. Two years ago, she also took on the position of education director for Prime Stage Theatre Co., whose mission is “to entertain, inspire and enrich through professional theater by bringing literature to life.”
“As education director, I go into four urban, economically challenged school districts to support literacy through theater by increasing reading comprehension and vocabulary,” said Ms. Haston of the Hill District. In workshops at the schools, she also prepares students who normally wouldn’t go to the theater for their first theatrical experience at Prime Stage, which performs its shows at the New Hazlett Theatre on the North Side.
At the moment, the actress is preparing for “the most significant experience” of her career, a play about her estranged relationship with her mother, Ruth. Titled “Mother Lode,” the work is written by Virginia Wall Gruenert, founder of Off the Wall Theater in Carnegie, where the play opened Thursday. It continues through Sunday at Carnegie Stage, owned and operated by Off the Wall.
“I wrote a diary of my life and relationship with my mother and gave it to Virginia, who turned it into an initial play, ‘Without Ruth,’ ” Ms. Haston said. “It ran for three weeks in 2013 at Off the Wall with multiple characters, actors and plot offshoots.”
Comments from the audience and critics alike noted that the play might benefit if it focused solely on Ms. Haston and her mother and left out the other material.
“I talked to Virginia about rewriting the play without the other characters and performing it as a one-woman show,” Ms. Haston said.
Mrs. Wall Gruenert is co-directing the revised work with Pittsburgh director Spencer Whale. Ms. Haston said the rewrite is clearer, more poignant and has a better structure than its predecessor.
“Linda Haston has been part of the Off the Wall family since 2008, serving as actor, director, member of the board of advisers, and unconditional supporter,” Mrs. Wall Gruenert said. “The story of ‘Mother Lode’ is her story as well as her mother’s, and the issues it deals with are universal.”
“Linda’s talent and dedication to her craft would have made her a perfect choice for this play even if it had not been written expressly for her. Because the story is so personal, her journey through the process has not been easy, but I know the end result will be nothing less than astounding. She’s a real trouper and a consummate professional.”
Ms. Haston’s mother, Ruth, was the main reason she left New York and returned home to Pittsburgh. Even though she had an estranged relationship with her mother, she took care of her for 18 years, the last five of which her mother suffered from dementia.
“In this true story, I tell what I went through with my mother from childhood through adulthood,” she said. “The first play greatly affected me and served as a catharsis, even though it was a difficult thing to do. This second version is a lot easier. It’s a mix of the hard life I had with her and the joy that’s a celebration of her long life of 91 years.”
As one of only a handful of African-American actresses in Pittsburgh with an Actors Equity card, she said she arrived back in town not knowing many people. Her first job was a role she played in a New Horizons production, “Recollection Rag,” staged at Fisher Hall at Duquesne University and featured on Chris Moore's "Black Horizons" on WQED-TV in the early 1990s.
Since then, she has performed at City Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Quantum Theatre, Bricolage and PICT Classic Theatre as well as the Opera Theater of Pittsburgh. For the past seven years, she has also worked at Off the Wall as an actress and director.
“Pittsburgh theater people now know who I am, and I don’t have to carry a resume around with me,” she said. “I’m good at what I do, and my work speaks for itself.”
For tickets or information: 724-873-3576.
Dave Zuchowski, freelance writer: suburbanliving@post-gazette.com.
First Published: January 29, 2016, 5:00 a.m.
