San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater has appointed Tony winner Pam MacKinnon as its new artistic director beginning this July. She succeeds Carey Perloff, who was at the helm of A.C.T. for 25 years.
Read: CAREY PERLOFF TO STEP DOWN AS ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF SAN FRANCISCO’S A.C.T.
“I am thrilled and honored to be named artistic director of American Conservatory Theater,” says MacKinnon. “I am eager to build on the company’s rich legacy of artistic excellence and expand the vision and achievements of Carey Perloff, Edward Hastings, and founder William Ball to ensure that A.C.T. remains at the forefront of American theatre. I look forward to furthering A.C.T. as a creative home for world-class artists and a place of rigorous artistic exploration and commitment in the Bay Area.”
“New York’s loss,” says Oscar nominee Uma Thurman, who is currently performing in MacKinnon’s production of The Parisian Woman on Broadway. “Pure gold, Pam MacKinnon, to whom I am forever grateful.”
MacKinnon will arrive at the West Coast theatre with a number of additional Broadway credits including Bruce Norris’ Clybourne Park, Amélie, A New Musical, David Mamet’s China Doll with Al Pacino, Wendy Wasserstein’s The Heidi Chronicles with Elizabeth Moss, Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance with Glenn Close and John Lithgow, and Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, for which she won a Tony Award.
MacKinnon has also directed extensively Off-Broadway at Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Theatre Club, and Roundabout Theatre Company, as well as regionally at Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company, San Diego’s Old Globe, and Washington, DC’s Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.
“Pam is not only a great theatre director,” says Pulitzer Prize–winning actor and playwright Tracy Letts (August: Osage County), “she has burning curiosity and boundless passion. She’s also a lot of fun. All of the above I consider qualities necessary to run a theatre. I can’t wait to see what she does with A.C.T.”
“I am so thrilled for Pam,” adds Tony nominee Phillipa Soo, who starred in Amélie, A New Musical; Hamilton and is currently on Broadway in The Parisian Woman. “The A.C.T. community has gained an incredible leader with outstanding qualifications—great intelligence, skill, and influence, with a heart to match.”
