Sisters in particle physics
Tamara Hamilton returns to the Vancouver stage in Acceleration
For actor Tamara Hamilton, performing in an upcoming play is especially nerve-racking.
It’s not because of an unfamiliarity with the fineries of particle physics, one of the play’s themes. But Acceleration marks the actor’s first time onstage in over 10 years.
“It’s terrifying, exciting, a mixed bag of emotions,” Hamilton said. “I’m so grateful to have this opportunity with a great script and excellent cast and crew. I feel like I am learning to ride a bicycle again. It’s there but everything needs to be tuned up.
“It’s taking me time to find
my way through it.”
Acceleration takes place in 2011. The world’s top physicists are searching for the Higgs boson, the elementary particle that was first theorized in the 1960s and thought crucial to our understanding of the universe. Hamilton plays Elise, a graduate student who joins the search. But she’s also looking for her younger sister, a physics student who has been missing for a year.
Along with Hamilton, the Stone’s Throw Production features Brandon Bate, Helen Martin and Selene Rose. Pacific Theatre apprentice Charissa Hurt is directing. An early version with a different cast premiered at last year’s Vancouver Fringe Festival.
“There have been quite a few revisions from the Fringe production,” Hamilton said. “In previous scripts, Elise was almost taking on the role of her sister as a way of dealing with her grief. Now it’s more of her obsession with finding her sister and finding the Higgs boson.”
Hamilton became interested in auditioning after reading the play’s synopsis. “I was interested in how they were going to parallel the search for the Higgs boson and the search for Elise’s sister, and how they connected. And I remember, way back in 2011 just before they discovered the Higgs boson. It was everywhere.”
The actor does have an interest in physics, thanks in part to her brother. “He has a physics degree. That played a part.”
Has she run anything in the script by her brother? “I haven’t. But he did joke, right off the bat, that we can have a lengthy talk about physics. I really never needed to take him up on that.”
Before taking a break from theatre (she moved back to Edmonton for family reasons), She worked on The Skinny Lie (2005) with Green Thumb Theatre and Banana Boys (2007) at the Firehall Arts Centre.
“This is the first play I’ve done since moving back to Vancouver and finding the space in my life to act again,” she said. “It’s a very welcoming environment.
“We’re all there for the same reason — to tell this story in the best way we all can.
“And I’m very vocal about what I’m finding challenging, and that’s new for me. I really want to share, ‘This is not working, can you help me?’ That’s the beauty of being older, and having time away. I’ve realized it’s not all on my shoulders. And that it’s a team effort.”