Defining a new direction

ACT artistic director shares challenges of guiding theater through unprecedented times

Pam MacKinnon knew she would face challenges when she left New York and moved west to become the first new artistic director at San Francisco’s American Conservatory Theater in more than a quarter century. It’s a post Carey Perloff had held since 1992, and MacKinnon knew she was inheriting big shoes for the 2018-19 season.

Yet, she could never have fully prepared for the unprecedented challenges that would come midway through the following season, as the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered theaters around the globe in early 2020.

MacKinnon has guided ACT through these turbulent times, as the organization quickly pivoted from performing the West Coast premiere of the baseball play “Toni Stone” (which closed immediately after opening night) to streaming it online, becoming one of the earliest theater companies in the country to offer virtual productions during the pandemic.

We recently caught up with the award-winning director, whose 70-plus production credits include Broadway’s “The Parisian Woman” with Uma Thurman, “China Doll” with Al Pacino, “The Heidi Chronicles” with Elisabeth Moss, “A Delicate Balance” with Glenn Close and John Lithgow, and a revival of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” that earned a 2013 Tony Award for best direction of a play.

Q

You’d seen so much success in New York, both on and off Broadway. Why did you decide to leave all that and take the job at ACT?

A

The rhythm of a freelance artist — or, at least, the rhythm I had — was these amazing projects over at most the course of 10 weeks. Sometimes

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