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Gorilla Theatre Co-Founder Dies

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By RAY REYES

rreyes@tampatrib.com

Published: February 20, 2009

TAMPA - As a playwright, Susan Hussey used her characters as prisms to cast an intimate light on global issues such as environmental disasters and AIDS.

In 1990, Hussey co-founded the Gorilla Theatre in Tampa's Drew Park area.

Hussey, 54, died Wednesday of cancer. She is survived by her husband, Aubrey Hampton, and their son, Trevor, 6.

Hussey's spirit and her love of literature, art and nature will be remembered, and "she will be missed by all," Gorilla Theatre spokeswoman Bridget Bean says in an e-mail to The Tampa Tribune.

Born in Martinsville, Ind., in 1954, Hussey worked odd jobs after high school, including five years with a small Canadian circus as a magician's assistant, Bean says.

Two of her plays, "The Toxic Wave," which dealt with an environmental calamity, and "The Dressing Room," about a drag queen dying of AIDS, were published by the University of Tampa Press in 2002.

In 1999, Hussey married Hampton, founder of Aubrey Organics. A viewing will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Gonzalez Funeral Home, 7209 N. Dale Mabry Highway, with a memorial service at 1 p.m.
Memorial donations can be made to Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. To contact the charity, call (212) 840-0770.

Messages of condolence can be sent care of Aubrey Organics, 4419 N. Manhattan Ave., Tampa FL 33614.

Reporter Ray Reyes can be reached at (813) 259-7920.

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