Artistic Director Pam MacKinnon Will Depart American Conservatory Theater

American Conservatory Theater announced that Tony Award–winning Artistic Director Pam MacKinnon will depart the Bay Area’s premier nonprofit theater organization at the close of the 2025/26 season and the conclusion of her contract, marking the culmination of eight years at the helm.

Since joining in 2018 as A.C.T.’s fourth Artistic Director, MacKinnon has led the organization through an extraordinary period of artistic evolution. Her tenure has been marked by bold programming, a renewed focus on new work and artist development, and a deep commitment to reflecting the diverse communities of the San Francisco Bay Area on its stages.

Under MacKinnon’s artistic leadership, A.C.T. expanded its commissioning pipeline, championed emerging and established playwrights, and elevated A.C.T.’s profile as a leading player on the local and national stage. During her tenure, A.C.T. premiered groundbreaking new works (Kate Attwell’s Big Data, Lydia R. Diamond’s Toni Stone, Christopher Chen’s The Headlands, Ryan Nicole Austin, Beau Lewis, and Adesha Adefela’s Co-Founders), presented boundary-pushing reimaginings of classic titles (Edward Albee’s Seascape, María Irene Fornés’s Fefu and Her Friends, Noël Coward’s Private Lives), and welcomed major commercial successes (The Lehman Trilogy, Freestyle Love Supreme, Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical, Kim’s Convenience), underscoring MacKinnon’s significant artistic impact on the cultural landscape of the San Francisco Bay Area. She also helped navigate A.C.T. through the pandemic, becoming a leading thought leader on the future of regional theatre in a post-COVID landscape.

“It has been a true privilege to serve as A.C.T.’s artistic director,” said MacKinnon. “For eight years, I have had the honor of shaping extraordinary work on our stage, that exemplifies the necessity of story in community. The constant highlight for me has been to work with our staff- dedicated theater makers all- who support and let thrive guest artists, teachers, and students upon whom the present and future of the art form relies. I am proud of the diverse, welcoming, and creative hub for the Bay that A.C.T. is today. I celebrate the curious and loving audiences, faithful subscribers and indefatigable donors, who made their way through the pandemic, cheering on A.C.T. every step of the way. This is your theater. I am grateful for my personal and artistic growth through heady and demanding times. Lastly, I look forward to what A.C.T. does next and where my work as a director and citizen artist leads.”

“Pam’s impact on A.C.T. cannot be overstated,” adds A.C.T. Interim Executive Director David Schmitz. “Through her dedication to bold storytelling and her investment in Bay Area artists, she has ensured that A.C.T. moves into this next chapter from a place of strength, optimism, and excitement. I remain thrilled to lead alongside her through the completion of the 2026 season. ”
 
“We have had the pleasure of working with Pam for eight years,” said Jeff Minick, Chair of A.C.T. Board of Trustees. “Her leadership and impact across the organization have put A.C.T. in a great position to continue to  be a leader in new work development, adding to the cannon of American Theater. Particularly, Pam was instrumental in refocusing A.C.T. on telling stories that are from the Bay, by the Bay. She supported local artists and introduced new artists to the impressive team at A.C.T. It is hard to put into words the impact Pam has had at A.C.T. We wish her well as she returns to freelance directing and can’t wait to see what she does next! The only thing more impressive than Pam as an artist is Pam as person. We are forever thankful for Pam’s leadership at A.C.T. and are excited to finish her tenure with a fantastic season that includes her directing Eisa Davis’ ||: Girls :||: Chance :||: Music :||.”
 
“Through her own exceptional work and the creative community she invited to bring artistic life to our stages behind the scenes and in front of audiences, Pam has nurtured A.C.T. as an artistic home for artists and audiences to see and experience themselves fully, to think deeply about their own lives and the human experience, and to laugh and dance together to truly sensational and imaginative performances,” said Joaquín Torres, President, A.C.T. Board of Trustees.  “Her work as a community partner has encouraged San Francisco and its benefactors to see A.C.T. as its own responsibility to care for and support and has strengthened our ability to invite audiences to experience the aliveness that only live performance brings. We deeply appreciate the opportunities she has made possible for our stages and look forward to experiencing them in our current and future season.”
 
Pam is a Tony, Drama Desk, Joe A. Callaway, and two-time Obie Award–winning director, having directed upwards of 80 productions around the country, off Broadway, on Broadway and in London. Her Broadway credits include Amélie: A New Musical (with Phillipa Soo), Beau Willimon’s The Parisian Woman (with Uma Thurman), David Mamet’s China Doll (with Al Pacino), Wendy Wasserstein’s The Heidi Chronicles (with Elisabeth Moss), Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance (with Glenn Close and John Lithgow), Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Tony Award, Best Direction of a Play), and Bruce Norris’s Clybourne Park (Obie Award and Tony nomination). Recent directing credits include Bruce Norris’s Downstate (Steppenwolf, National, Playwrights Horizons), Kate Attwell’s Big Data (A.C.T.), Craig Lucas’s A Whynot Christmas Carol (A.C.T.), and Itamar Moses and Gaby Alter’s musical Nobody Loves You (A.C.T).

MacKinnon has been recognized as among the “25 Most Influential San Franciscans” by San Francisco magazine. Pam is the most recent past president of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC,) the national union representing stage directors and choreographers.

The A.C.T. Board of Trustees will begin a national search to select the next Artistic Director who will continue advancing A.C.T.’s long-standing reputation as a top regional theater in the nation.