The Acting Company

The Acting Company (Ian Belknap, Artistic Director, Elisa Spencer-Kaplan, Executive Director) was founded in 1972 by John Houseman and Margot Harley with the first graduating class of the Drama Division of The Juilliard School. The Acting Company’s mission is to build a discerning audience for the theater by producing exceptional productions for diverse audiences; to develop the best young American actors by giving them an opportunity to practice their craft in a repertory of classic and new plays; and to educate students in communities with limited access to the arts. The Company has produced 144 plays in New York City and on tour in 48 states and 10 countries for nearly 4 million audience members. Our education programs have served 2 million students and educators. Among the more than 400 actors who began their careers with The Acting Company are such notables at Kevin Kline, Patti LuPone, David Schramm, Frances Conroy, Rainn Wilson, Geoffrey Wright, Jesse L. Martin, Harriet Harris, Hamish Linklater, Keith David and Roslyn Ruff. The Company has commissioned and premiered over a dozen new plays and literary adaptations by prominent playwrights including Tony Kusher, Lynn Nottage, Beth Henley, John Guare, David Grimm, Ntozake Shange, Maria Irene Fornes, Rebecca Gilman, Marcus Gardley, Jeffrey Hatcher, and more.