A.C.T. Appoints Elizabeth Brodersen as Director of Education

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) announced the appointment of Elizabeth Brodersen as director of education, signaling a more significant commitment to arts education as part of the company's mission. A longtime A.C.T. employee, Brodersen has led the theater's audience education efforts for 19 years as publications editor, overseeing all of A.C.T.'s dramaturgical publications, including Words on Plays, A.C.T.'s celebrated in-depth study guide for each production. She co-chaired the Education Committee formed by the A.C.T. Board of Trustees during last year's strategic planning process and has been instrumental in the articulation of A.C.T.'s deepening educational outreach. As a member of A.C.T.'s senior management team, Brodersen will oversee the three central programs of A.C.T.'s current educational outreach, as well as the implementation of the ambitious arts education component of the company's recently adopted ten-year strategic vision plan. She begins her duties immediately.

The three primary programs in A.C.T.'s current educational outreach are:
· The Student Matinee (SMAT) series, which over the past three decades has brought thousands of students each year to A.C.T. performances with low-cost tickets and lively postshow discussions. Each teacher receives a free copy of Words on Plays, to help them prepare lessons in advance.
· ArtReach, an intensive theater-based educational program provided in collaboration with public schools serving underserved, low-income students throughout the Bay Area. Developed to help fill the gap in the school system's dwindling arts curriculum, ArtReach provides free SMAT tickets and copies of the teacher's edition of Words on Plays, in-school theater workshops led by A.C.T. teaching artists who bring the experience of live theater directly into the classroom, and free study guides created specifically for and distributed to each participating student.

· The Will on Wheels program, through which students in the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program take a Shakespeare production on tour each spring, transporting the words of the Bard to school auditoriums, public squares, and unconventional spaces around San Francisco.

"In an increasingly fractious and divided society, the arts are a bridge to empathy, understanding, and imagination. This is the moment for arts organizations like A.C.T. to make a real commitment to arts education so that another generation of Americans can have access to the transformative power of live theater," says A.C.T. Artistic Director Carey Perloff. "We are thrilled to recognize one of A.C.T.'s most remarkable employees, Elizabeth Brodersen, who has led our education charge for many years via our in-depth publications and study guides, as she steps up to become A.C.T.'s first director of education. A passionate advocate of audience engagement and of the power of theater to open minds and hearts, Elizabeth has already forged deep connections with educational leaders and teachers in the Bay Area, and we are extremely excited to begin some long-term collaborations in the hopes of encouraging children to become active arts participants all their lives." A.C.T. Trustee Kaatri Grigg, current co-chair of the board's Education Committee, adds: "Elizabeth has been with A.C.T. in a wide range of positions since 1992 and knows the organization extremely well. She is passionate about education and we are fortunate that she will bring her many talents to this important new position."

Brodersen affirms: "As a lifelong believer in the power of live theater to transform lives and illuminate the human experience, I am thrilled to have this opportunity to take charge of A.C.T.'s educational programs. I've dedicated the past two decades to helping A.C.T.'s audiences-from young students to engaged adults-understand the context and content of our culture's great works of dramatic literature. I look forward to working with our community to deepen and expand A.C.T.'s educational programs for theater lovers of all ages."

Elizabeth Brodersen has worked as A.C.T.'s dramaturgical publications editor-researching and writing about plays, playwrights, and productions-for 19 years and is the founding editor of A.C.T.'s acclaimed performance guide series, Words on Plays. She has served as dramaturg/assistant director on A.C.T. Conservatory productions of Maxim Gorky's Philistines, Sarah Daniels's Dust (world premiere), and Horton Foote's Laura Dennis and as research dramaturg on A.C.T.'s mainstage production of The Tosca Project. Her writing has also appeared in the publications of theaters across the country and in Stagebill magazine. She is a graduate of Princeton University and the Columbia University School of Law. Brodersen received the A.C.T. Artistic Director's Award in 2000.