American Conservatory Theater history

Since 1968, more than half a million students have seen A.C.T. productions; for many, it is their first theater experience.

Young ConservatoryA.C.T.’s Young Conservatory is an internationally recognized professional theater training program for youth through the ages of 19. It was founded by Luanne and Ross Graham in 1971.

A.C.T. presents John Guare's Rich and Famous, in its first major revival since the play's 1976 New York debut, featuring significant rewrites made to the original script for the A.C.T. production directed by John Rando.

In 1986, founder William Ball leaves American Conservatory Theater; Edward Hastings became the new artistic director.

A.C.T. presents the mainstage world premiere of Food and Shelter, developed at A.C.T. by playwright Jane Anderson during the 1989 Plays in Progress series, directed by Joy Carlin.

In 1992, the American Conservatory Theater celebrated its 25th-anniversary silver season gala, Starry Night, directed by outgoing American Conservatory Theater Artistic Director Edward Hastings.

The theater is reopened on January 10, 1996, with the gala event A Galaxy on Geary.

A.C.T. opens the 1997–98 season with the world premiere of the Broadway-bound Cole Porter musical High Society, which becomes the company's biggest financial success at the Geary Theater.

The Oakland Ensemble Theatre joins with A.C.T. to present a rousing San Francisco first: The Gospel at Colonus, Lee Breuer and Bob Telson's retelling of the Oedipus legend, as part of San Francisco's Multicultural Festival 2000.

The class of 2001 becomes the first ensemble of M.F.A. Program students to appear on the Geary stage in A Christmas Carol.

The M.F.A. Program Class of 2002 appears in individual roles on the Geary stage in A Christmas Carol.

The Robert Wilson, William S. Burroughs, and Tom Waits collaboration The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets—featuring Marianne Faithful and Matt McGrath and produced by BITE:2004, Cultural Industry, the Sydney Festival, and A.C.T.—opens A.C.T.'s 2004–05 season.

In February, A.C.T. acquires The Strand Theater, a historic cinema at 1127 Market Street that had been shuttered since 2006, with the intention of renovating it as a 300-seat second stage.

In 2007, A.C.T. released a cast album of Perloff’s production of the Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill musical Happy End, produced by LucasArts studios.

With the incredibly well-received West Coast premiere of Bruce Norris's Clybourne Park, which would go on to win the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, A.C.T. expands its InterACT series with Experts Talk Back lectures.

Stephen Buescher's M.F.A. Program production of The House of Bernarda Alba is selected by the Moscow Art Theatre School to perform at Moscow Art Theatre School's 2012 Stanislavsky Festival in October; A.C.T. is the only theater school selected to represent the United States.

The 2013–14 season culminates with the United States premiere of James Fenton’s adaptation of The Orphan of Zhao, directed by Carey Perloff and featuring San Francisco native BD Wong.

In May, the 2014 Season Gala celebrates the three founding fathers of A.C.T.: Mortimer Fleishhacker, Cyril Magnin, and Melvin Swig.

In 2015, A.C.T. opened the Strand Theater at 1127 Market Street between 7th and 8th Streets, across from the U.N. Plaza in the Civic Center neighborhood of San Francisco.

The MFA class of 2017 presents I’m Through with Love at the Geary, a musical revue exploring the meaning of being in love.

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