A.C.T. Mourns the Loss of Edward Hastings, Former Artistic Director

Edward Hastings, who served as American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.)'s second artistic director from 1986 to 1992, died yesterday at his Santa Fe home from natural causes. He was 80 years old. Hastings was a company member of A.C.T. since its founding in Pittsburgh in 1965 and also served as executive director under founder William Ball. His tenure as artistic director at A.C.T. marked a commitment to large-scale productions, new plays and emerging playwrights, and diversity. Hastings, along with then-production manager James Haire, was responsible for keeping A.C.T. open following the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, when the company temporarily lost its permanent home at the Geary Theater due to damage from the disaster. Hastings and Haire worked tirelessly to secure different venues around San Francisco to continue the company's ambitious production schedule.

"Ed Hastings truly saved A.C.T. by picking up the mantle after the Bill Ball years and carrying forward with grace and determination. Of the many things Ed did so beautifully as artistic director, one of the most important was his nurturing of young and emerging theater companies throughout the Bay Area: among them, Turtle Island Ensemble, Asian American Theater Company, Encore Theatre Company, and the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre," said A.C.T. Artistic Director Carey Perloff. "He was incredibly welcoming to me when I took over as artistic director in 1992, and incredibly generous with his advice and counsel, while always making clear that change was important. He will be deeply missed by the thousands of artists, staff members, and audiences whom he touched over so many years." Longtime colleague and friend Haire, who recently retired from A.C.T. as producing director after 40 years with the company, added: "Ed had to lead A.C.T. through some of its most difficult periods and he did it with a calm grace. He was a passionate artist, an amazing administrator, and a true gentleman in the literal sense of the word. In the '80s, he was able to completely reshape the company and put A.C.T. on solid financial footing without any upheaval, which was no small feat. And I couldn't imagine a better partner than Ed during the difficult nomadic years following the 1989 earthquake. I am deeply sad to have lost a longtime colleague and, more importantly, a true friend."

As a company member, Hastings was an integral part of the founding and success of A.C.T. If founder William Ball provided visionary leadership, Hastings, who signed on as executive director in 1975, was responsible for the organizational and financial stability of the fast-growing young company. Along with his administrative duties, Hastings was a celebrated director, and he helmed 30 productions in his 25 years in San Francisco. When Ball resigned in 1986, there was general consensus that A.C.T.'s second artistic director should be someone familiar with the organization and its history: it was unanimously agreed that that person was Hastings. Although he had resigned as the company's executive director a few years earlier, he had maintained his ties to A.C.T. as a director. As artistic director, he reinstated A.C.T.'s commitment to large-scale, large-cast productions (beginning his tenure with the celebrated Laird Williamson production of Sunday in the Park with George) and restructured A.C.T.'s Acting Company to make it more financially feasible. Under his tenure, A.C.T. strengthened its ties to such major playwrights as Tom Stoppard, whose work continues to be a vital part of A.C.T.'s repertory under Carey Perloff's leadership.
Hastings was best known as a champion for the development of new plays, which continues to be a significant part of A.C.T.'s mission to this day. The Plays in Progress program he founded in 1972 staged full public productions of new works (most by emerging playwrights) in smaller venues. The program not only provided young playwrights with an invaluable opportunity, but also gave students in A.C.T.'s Advanced Training Program the experience of working alongside members of The Acting Company. This method of training by performing alongside master actors is a significant part of the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program's curriculum today.

A staunch supporter of diversity at A.C.T., Hastings was committed to presenting a more diverse body of work on the mainstage. Under his leadership, A.C.T. presented its first major work by an African American playwright, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, which began A.C.T's close relationship with playwright August Wilson. In addition to starting two longstanding artistic diversity programs at A.C.T., the Black Actors Workshop and the Asian American Theatre Workshop (which has since become the Asian American Theatre Company), he offered free admission for African American and Asian American actors to A.C.T.'s Advanced Training Program to support the diversification of acting talent in the American theater. Hastings was also a proponent of international exchange. During his time at A.C.T., he was a teacher at the Shanghai Drama Institute as part of the Theater Bridge Program between A.C.T. and the Shanghai theater; his production of All the Way Home was presented in Tokyo; he directed the Australian premiere of Hot l Baltimore; and he restaged his A.C.T. production of Sam Shepard's Buried Child in Serbo-Croatian at the Yugoslav Dramatic Theatre in Belgrade.

After leaving A.C.T., Hastings continued to work as a respected director of classics, new plays, and operas around the country and internationally. He is survived by his longtime partner, Eugene Barcone.

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