A.C.T. announces 2018 Honorary Master of Fine Arts degree recipients

American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) Conservatory Director Melissa Smith announced today that honorary Master of Fine Arts degrees will be conferred on A.C.T. Artistic Director Carey Perloff, as well as acclaimed actors, directors, and teaching artists Steven Anthony Jones and Gregory Wallace. Perloff, Jones, and Wallace will receive their degrees at the graduation ceremony for the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program class of 2018 on Monday, May 21 at 11 a.m. at A.C.T.'s Geary Theater (415 Geary Street, San Francisco).

Says Melissa Smith: "With the selection of Carey, Steven Anthony, and Gregory, we honor the accomplishments of three unique and remarkable theater artists who have also had a profound impact on the lives of artists in training. During her extraordinary 25-year tenure as artistic director of A.C.T., Carey reinvigorated the theater, strengthened the M.F.A. Program, and launched numerous artistic initiatives, not to mention developing her own work as a director and playwright. Through memorable performances on the Geary Theater stage and as dedicated, rigorous teachers, Steven Anthony and Gregory have fulfilled the mission of A.C.T.-to conserve and reinvent the classics and to inspire younger artists on the same path. Both artists have also been close collaborators and core company members during Carey's tenure. In recognizing all three artists, we are also thrilled to acknowledge a dazzling era in A.C.T.'s history."

Carey Perloff, who will be departing the Bay Area's premier nonprofit theater organization following the conclusion of the 2017-18 season, is considered one of the nation's most prolific artistic directors. Her accomplished and storied 25 years at A.C.T. are marked by several milestones, including a commitment to new work that includes countless world-premiere productions, the rebuilding of the earthquake-damaged Geary Theater, the purchase and renovation of The Strand Theater, the creation of the New Strands Festival and commissioning program, the revitalization of A.C.T.'s acclaimed Master of Fine Arts Program, and the commissioning of the Women's Leadership in Residential Theaters research study.

One of the first triumphs of Perloff's tenure at A.C.T. was the reconstruction of The Geary Theater after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which caused extensive damage to the theater's roof and proscenium. Under Perloff's leadership, A.C.T. raised $30 million for the Geary Theater Capital Campaign, which represented, at the time, the largest capital campaign ever undertaken by an American regional theater. Perloff also played a pivotal role in the purchase and renovation of The Strand Theater, located in San Francisco's Central Market neighborhood. The venue, which opened in May 2015, has enabled A.C.T. to present new work and emerging artists, expand education programs, and produce theater in versatile and innovative ways.

Throughout the past 25 years, Perloff has directed more than 50 mainstage productions at A.C.T., including Antigone (1993), Arcadia (1995 and 2013),Hecuba (1995 and 1998), Indian Ink (1999 and 2015), The Invention of Love(2000), The Homecoming (2011), Elektra (2012), and The Orphan Zhao (2014). Other world-premiere productions presented and commissioned under Perloff include A Thousand Splendid Suns (2017), Chester Bailey (2016), Stuck Elevator (2013), Tales of the City: A New Musical (2011), a new adaptation ofThe Caucasian Chalk Circle (2010), and The Tosca Project (2010). Her playKinship premiered at the Théâtre de Paris in October 2014. In 2015 her memoir was released titled Beautiful Chaos: A Life in the Theater, which captures her time at A.C.T.

Steven Anthony Jones has been a performer, teacher, and director at A.C.T. for over two decades. The former artistic director of Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, he has performed in the works of August Wilson, Charles Fuller, Athol Fugard, Tom Stoppard, Philip Kan Gotanda, Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, Molière, William Shakespeare, and Anton Chekhov. He was in the original cast of A Soldier's Play, which won an Obie Award for ensemble acting and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Television and film credits include two seasons ofMidnight Caller and a recurring role on the NBC series Trauma. He has also been involved with Cleveland Play House, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, and San Francisco Shakespeare Festival.

Gregory Wallace is currently a Professor in the Practice of Acting at Yale School of Drama. Wallace has proved his dedication and devotion to A.C.T. over the years by being highly involved in a number of productions. He has worked with many leading directors at A.C.T. including Carey Perloff. From 1999-2011 he was an avid member of the resident acting company at A.C.T. where his credits includeClybourne Park, Marcus: Or The Secret Of Sweet, Travesties, Gem of the Ocean, A Doll's House, The Three Sisters, Waiting for Godot, Master Harold ... and the Boys, and Angels in America. Wallace has also been involved in the development of other productions, including Insurrection: Holding History, The Cider House Rules, After the War, and War Music. Wallace shared his professional knowledge as a faculty member at A.C.T. by teaching courses in Heightened Language in Action, Acting Chekhov, and Contemporary Scene Study. As a director, he was involved with plays by Eugene O'Neill, Sophocles, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Anton Chekhov, and Georges Feydeau.

Steven Anthony Jones and Gregory Wallace will appear in Suzan-Lori Parks'sFather Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) at A.C.T.'s Geary Theater now through May 20, 2018.

Past recipients of the A.C.T. honorary M.F.A. degree include actor Marco Barricelli, actress Annette Bening, actress and comedian Mary Birdsong, actor Benjamin Bratt, former San Francisco mayor Willie Lewis Brown, Jr., former Theatre Communications Group executive director Ben Cameron, Grammy Award-winning musician Tracy Chapman, Academy Award­-winning actress Olympia Dukakis, Chairman of the National Endowment for the ArtsDana Gioia, playwright John Guare, playwright David Henry Hwang, Tony Award winner Bill Irwin, former state senator Mark Leno, actress Seana McKenna, arts leader Jonathan Moscone, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi, former chairman emeritus of the A.C.T. Foundation Alan Stein, San Francisco Symphony's Michael Tilson Thomas, Academy Award­-winning actor Denzel Washington, and director, producer, and, playwright Charles Randolf Wright.

Recipients of the conservatory's honorary degrees are selected by the Conservatory Committee, a subcommittee of the A.C.T. Board of Trustees. Selections are based on an individual's contribution to the advancement of the mission and educational goals of American Conservatory Theater and the arts in America.

For more information about the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program, visit act-sf.org/mfa.

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