American Conservatory Theater (
A.C.T.) is a large non-profit theater company in
San Francisco,
California, that offers both classical and contemporary theater productions. A.C.T. was founded in 1965 in
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in conjunction with the
Pittsburgh Playhouse and
Carnegie Mellon University by theatre and opera director
William Ball. By invitation from San Francisco philanthropists and officials, Ball relocated the company to San Francisco and astonished the theatre world by presenting twenty-seven fully staged productions in rotating repertory, in two different theatres, the Geary and the Marine's Memorial Theatre, during the first 40-week season.
San Francisco Chronicle critic Paine Knickerbocker acclaimed Ball's opening performance of
Molière's
Tartuffe as "a screaming, bellowing unbelievable triumph."