The Acting Company

The Acting Company is a nonprofit professional theater company based in New York City. It was established in 1972 by actor and producer John Houseman and Margot Harley, who worked together in the newly created Drama Division of the Juilliard School. Houseman and Harley wanted to prevent the first graduating class of Juilliard actors from dispersing immediately after completing their training. Their solution was to form a continuing ensemble that could employ young actors, give them sustained professional experience, and develop productions around their collective talents. The organization initially operated as the Group I Acting Company and later adopted the shorter name The Acting Company as its membership expanded beyond the original Juilliard cohort. Touring was central to the company's design from the beginning. Rather than depending on a lengthy New York engagement, the ensemble traveled from city to city, presenting repertory productions in theaters, schools, colleges, and community venues. Many engagements lasted only one or two nights. This model allowed the company to reach audiences that did not regularly have access to major classical theater and gave early-career actors extensive experience performing under changing conditions. The company's repertory has included Shakespeare and other canonical works alongside modern and American plays, with productions selected for both artistic value and touring suitability. The Acting Company has historically operated as a producing and touring institution rather than as a conventional fixed theater venue. John Houseman served as producing artistic director through 1986, while Margot Harley served as producer from the company's founding until her retirement at the end of 2015. The company has maintained institutional relationships with New York City Center, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and, since 2009, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. These affiliations have supported the development, presentation, and circulation of its productions. According to the cited reference material, the company has produced more than 130 plays that reached audiences exceeding three million people in 48 states and ten foreign countries. Its educational work focuses especially on middle-school and high-school students, including young people in disadvantaged communities. These programs extend the company's mission beyond professional performance by using theater to support literacy, cultural access, classroom engagement, and exposure to dramatic literature. The company has also functioned as an important entry point into the profession for actors beginning their careers. Its alumni include Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone, Keith David, Frances Conroy, Kevin Conroy, Jesse L. Martin, Jeffrey Wright, David Ogden Stiers, Rainn Wilson, and other performers who later developed substantial careers in theater, film, and television. The organization's contribution is therefore both presentational and developmental: it brings repertory theater to touring audiences while giving performers a structured bridge from conservatory training to professional employment. Recognition has included Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre in 2003, a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, an Obie Award, Citibank's Excellence in Education Award, and two AUDELCO Awards. The company's touring life was documented in the 2013 film Still on the Road, directed by Sara Wolkowitz. The Acting Company remains associated with the preservation and renewal of touring repertory theater in the United States, combining professional productions with education and audience outreach.

The Acting Company emerged from the professional training environment of the Juilliard School. In 1972, John Houseman, then leading Juilliard's new Drama Division, and his colleague Margot Harley created a nonprofit company for the division's first graduating group of actors. They believed that the ensemble should not dissolve immediately after graduation and that continued employment together could provide a practical extension of conservatory education. The organization was incorporated in New York as the Group I Acting Company, a name referring to the initial Juilliard cohort. The founders quickly made touring the company's principal operating model. A young ensemble was unlikely to attract enough sustained attention in New York to support long engagements, whereas a touring schedule could take productions to many communities and keep the actors working together. The approach also reflected the older tradition of touring repertory theater as a training ground. The company presented plays in a wide variety of venues, often staying for only a night or two in each city. As later membership came from other acting conservatories and professional backgrounds, the original Group I designation became less appropriate, and the organization adopted the name The Acting Company. During its early decades, the company developed a national profile through repertory productions centered on classical theater and other major dramatic works. Houseman remained producing artistic director until 1986. Harley continued as producer for more than four decades, overseeing the practical and artistic continuity of the touring institution until her retirement at the end of 2015. The company also developed affiliations that helped anchor its work within the broader American theater system. It was associated with New York City Center and began touring in association with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., in 1980. From 2009, its touring productions were presented in association with the Guthrie Theater of Minneapolis. The company has combined performance with education throughout its history. Its programs for middle-school and high-school students are particularly directed toward disadvantaged communities. Through performances and related activities, The Acting Company has used dramatic literature as a means of widening cultural access and connecting professional theater with classrooms and young audiences. This educational mission complements the company's role as an employer and training environment for actors at the beginning of their professional careers. The scale of the company's historical activity is reflected in the cited record of more than 130 productions seen by more than three million people in 48 states and ten foreign countries. Hundreds of actors have worked with the company, including performers who later became prominent in theater, film, and television. Its alumni roster includes Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone, Keith David, Frances Conroy, Kevin Conroy, Jesse L. Martin, Jeffrey Wright, David Ogden Stiers, and Rainn Wilson. The Acting Company has received several forms of recognition, including a 1975 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award, an Obie Award, Citibank's Excellence in Education Award, two AUDELCO Awards, and Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre in 2003. Its touring model was examined in the documentary Still on the Road, released in 2013 and directed by Sara Wolkowitz. The company continues to be identified with nonprofit touring repertory theater, professional actor development, and educational outreach in the United States.

• 2015

  Margot Harley retires

  [1]The Acting Companyen.wikipedia.org

  Co-founder and longtime producer Margot Harley retires at the end of the year.

• 2013

  Still on the Road is released

  [1]The Acting Companyen.wikipedia.org

  A documentary directed by Sara Wolkowitz chronicles the company's touring theater work.

• 2009

  Guthrie Theater association begins

  [1]The Acting Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The company's touring productions begin operating in association with the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.

• 2003

  Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre

  [1]The Acting Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The Acting Company receives Tony Honors for Excellence in Theatre.

• 1986

  Houseman concludes his producing artistic directorship

  [1]The Acting Companyen.wikipedia.org

  John Houseman ends his tenure as the company's producing artistic director after leading it through its formative years.

• 1980

  Kennedy Center touring association begins

  [1]The Acting Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The company begins touring in association with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

• 1975

  Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle recognition

  [1]The Acting Companyen.wikipedia.org

  The company receives a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award.

• 1972

  The company is founded

  [1]The Acting Companyen.wikipedia.org

  John Houseman and Margot Harley establish the nonprofit Group I Acting Company to employ and develop the first graduating ensemble from Juilliard's Drama Division.

A nonprofit American touring repertory company that combines professionally produced classical theater with national audience access, actor development, and educational outreach, particularly in communities underserved by major performing-arts institutions.

• Theater performances · 1972

  Touring repertory productions

  The company's core offering is a rotating program of professionally produced plays taken on annual tours. Productions have emphasized Shakespeare, classical drama, American plays, and other works suited to presentation in many cities and varied performance venues. Engagements may be brief, sometimes lasting only one or two nights, allowing the company to serve a broad geographic audience rather than concentrating on a single metropolitan run.

• Arts education

  Theater education programs

  The Acting Company sponsors educational initiatives for middle-school and high-school students. The programs connect touring theater with classroom learning and are designed in significant part for students in disadvantaged communities. They extend the company's mission from presenting plays to building familiarity with dramatic literature and making professional theater more accessible to young audiences.

• 2009

  Establish a touring association with the Guthrie TheaterStrategy

  Background

  The company continued to develop producing and presenting relationships that could support national touring theater.

  Action taken

  Touring productions began operating in association with the Guthrie Theater of Minneapolis.

  Aftermath

  The Guthrie became an important institutional partner for the company's touring productions.

  Source

• 1980

  Begin touring in association with the Kennedy CenterStrategy

  Background

  The company sought institutional relationships that could support the presentation and circulation of its touring repertory.

  Action taken

  The Acting Company began touring in association with the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

  Aftermath

  The association strengthened the company's connection with a major national performing-arts institution.

  Source

• 1972

  Adopt a national touring modelStrategy

  Background

  The founders concluded that a young ensemble would not be able to sustain a long New York engagement and that touring would provide both audience access and continuous employment for the actors.

  Action taken

  The company made extensive touring central to its operating model, presenting productions in numerous cities and often using short engagements.

  Aftermath

  Touring became the defining feature of the organization and enabled it to reach audiences across the United States while serving as a professional development environment for actors.

  Source

1. 1The Acting Companyen.wikipedia.org
2. 2The Acting Company official websitetheactingcompany.org