BACKSTAGE LEFT
by Randall Stuart
An Artistic recollection
The remarkable Geary Theatre stands at the crossroads of Geary and Mason Streets in San Francisco, and opened its doors in 1910 as the Columbia Theatre, signifying a brave new cultural chapter for San Franciscans in the aftermath of the 1906 earthquake. In 1967 a shining new theatre company, the American Conservatory Theatre, arrived to inhabit the edifice and thereby established its home in "The City by the Bay". The company captivated the public with dynamic productions, launched one of the nation's finest actor training programs, purchased the historic building, and journeyed over the Iron Curtain in 1976 to perform in the USSR. Backstage Left is a detailed remembrance of a particular chapter of time & space (1974-1976) in San Francisco, and this large-scale "memory project" (to launch in early 2023) is a virtual destination and repository, featuring a visual library where the reader will find a collection of interviews, gazettes, one-act scenes, dialogues, and ghost stories that shine a vivid light on one of America’s finest artistic institutions. Author Randall Stuart, who was there at that time as an apprentice, interviews many of the contemporaneous members of the theatre company and weaves together the recollections of a golden epoch that took place a half century ago: a time when America was redefining itself on land, in space, and on the stage. The collection has three distinct “movements” that capture the history of the time.
The collection includes:
The Third Act of Desire is a detailed look at the late autumn of 1975 at A.C.T.'s Geary Theater, as seen through the eyes of a young actor, during the run of a towering production of Eugene O’Neill’s drama Desire Under The Elms which coincided with the development of a new play by Tennessee Williams (with the author himself in residency.) The Third Act of Desire takes a walk through the environments of the theatre and the rehearsal buildings, encountering the stories of the people (and a few notable ghosts) who found their sanctuary on the 400 block of Geary Street.
The Rakish Angle - The Ninth Season 1974-1975: A jaunty and dashing theatrical season that includes productions of King Richard III, Pillars of the Community, Horatio, Jumpers, Street Scene, The Threepenny Opera, The Ruling Class and the final year of the beloved production of Cyrano De Bergerac. The company is buzzing with success, touring in the summer, and hosting the newly-established Asian American Theatre Workshop. The narrative of The Rakish Angle balances the excitement of the local company's artistic work with the lives of San Francisco citizens still reeling from Vietnam & Watergate, an energy crisis, the kidnapping of a local heiress, even as they march for women’s rights.
Ten Orbits Around The Sun - The Tenth Season 1975-1976: A vivid theatre season that includes epic productions of Tiny Alice, The Matchmaker, Desire Under The Elms, General Gorgeous, Merry Wives of Windsor, This Is (An Entertainment), Equus, Peer Gynt and the final year of the smash hit The Taming of The Shrew. A.C.T. acquires their building, sets the course for accreditation of its actor training program, travels to the USSR, and films Shakespeare's Shrew for PBS Great Performances. The company is flying high, commissioning new works, and hosting the Black Actors Workshop. Ten Orbits Around The Sun points to an apogee for the Arts in America, when the regional rotating repertory system was the revolving galaxy in which theatre artists could defy gravity and take flight.
The Rakish Angle - The Ninth Season 1974-1975: A jaunty and dashing theatrical season that includes productions of King Richard III, Pillars of the Community, Horatio, Jumpers, Street Scene, The Threepenny Opera, The Ruling Class and the final year of the beloved production of Cyrano De Bergerac. The company is buzzing with success, touring in the summer, and hosting the newly-established Asian American Theatre Workshop. The narrative of The Rakish Angle balances the excitement of the local company's artistic work with the lives of San Francisco citizens still reeling from Vietnam & Watergate, an energy crisis, the kidnapping of a local heiress, even as they march for women’s rights.
Ten Orbits Around The Sun - The Tenth Season 1975-1976: A vivid theatre season that includes epic productions of Tiny Alice, The Matchmaker, Desire Under The Elms, General Gorgeous, Merry Wives of Windsor, This Is (An Entertainment), Equus, Peer Gynt and the final year of the smash hit The Taming of The Shrew. A.C.T. acquires their building, sets the course for accreditation of its actor training program, travels to the USSR, and films Shakespeare's Shrew for PBS Great Performances. The company is flying high, commissioning new works, and hosting the Black Actors Workshop. Ten Orbits Around The Sun points to an apogee for the Arts in America, when the regional rotating repertory system was the revolving galaxy in which theatre artists could defy gravity and take flight.
The “Backstage Left” Interviews include many of 1974-76 A.C.T. Company members:
Randall Duk Kim, Ray Reinhardt, Joy Carlin, Megan Cole, Elizabeth Huddle, Deborah May, Barbara Dirickson, Fredi Olster, Rick Hamilton,
J. Steven White, Raye Birk, Candace Barrett, Laird Williamson, Ben Moore, Jim & Lucille Burke, Larry Hecht, Sabin Epstein, Daniel Kern,
Daniel Davis, Hope Alexander, David Hammond, Dirk Epperson, Cathleen Edwards, Daniel Zippi, Michael Hume…and more to come.
and a large swath of the contemporaneous A.C.T. Advanced Training Program student body including:
Susan Pellegrino, Peter Davies, Gina Farrell, Anita Maynard, Ray Dooley, Nathan Haas, Traber Burns, Noel Koran, Frank Abe, Tomas Arana,
Bill Peck, Leslie Harrell, Katherine Conklin, Angie Thieriot, Anni Long, Sands Hall…and more to come.
The project also pays homage to those we've lost, including:
William Ball, Allen Fletcher, Edward Hastings, Gino Barcone, Dennis Powers,
Peter Donat, Sydney Walker, Ruth Kobart, William Patterson, Charles Hallahan, Anthony S.Teague, Anne Lawder, Marrian Walters,
Joseph Bird, Gregory Itzin, Nancy Wickwire, Barbara Colby, Paul Shenar, Michael O’Sullivan, John Hancock, and René Auberjonois.
Randall Duk Kim, Ray Reinhardt, Joy Carlin, Megan Cole, Elizabeth Huddle, Deborah May, Barbara Dirickson, Fredi Olster, Rick Hamilton,
J. Steven White, Raye Birk, Candace Barrett, Laird Williamson, Ben Moore, Jim & Lucille Burke, Larry Hecht, Sabin Epstein, Daniel Kern,
Daniel Davis, Hope Alexander, David Hammond, Dirk Epperson, Cathleen Edwards, Daniel Zippi, Michael Hume…and more to come.
and a large swath of the contemporaneous A.C.T. Advanced Training Program student body including:
Susan Pellegrino, Peter Davies, Gina Farrell, Anita Maynard, Ray Dooley, Nathan Haas, Traber Burns, Noel Koran, Frank Abe, Tomas Arana,
Bill Peck, Leslie Harrell, Katherine Conklin, Angie Thieriot, Anni Long, Sands Hall…and more to come.
The project also pays homage to those we've lost, including:
William Ball, Allen Fletcher, Edward Hastings, Gino Barcone, Dennis Powers,
Peter Donat, Sydney Walker, Ruth Kobart, William Patterson, Charles Hallahan, Anthony S.Teague, Anne Lawder, Marrian Walters,
Joseph Bird, Gregory Itzin, Nancy Wickwire, Barbara Colby, Paul Shenar, Michael O’Sullivan, John Hancock, and René Auberjonois.
Randall Stuart is a theatre artist, director, teacher, and author. His stage work has been seen on many regional stages over the course of four decades. He received his apprenticeship training at A.C.T. in the 1970’s, and periodically returned to his alma mater as a visiting instructor and project director in the Advanced Training Program. Randall is a native San Franciscan, and the founder & director of the artistic umbrella Upon These Boards.