Inside A.C.T.

On October 27, friends of A.C.T. crawled, oozed, flew, materialized, and zombie-walked their way to our first-ever Halloween fundraiser, Revamping The Strand, which raised money for the renovation of The Strand Theater in San Francisco's Central Market neighborhood. A.C.T. purchased The Strand as a second stage, and it is scheduled to open in 2014. The event, underwritten in large part by interior designer Ken Fulk and patrons Jeff and Laurie Ubben, was held in Fulk's SOMA studio and featured a four-course dinner with celebrity chefs, a flash-mob performance of Rocky Horror Picture Show 's "Time Warp," and a concert by Bay Area native Stevie Nicks, who opened her set with a cover of Led Zeppelin's "Rock 'n' Roll." In addition to longtime A.C.T. loyalists, the benefit attracted a number of young social media leaders and philanthropists, many of whom are also going to be calling Central Market home. The costumes ranged from famous Hitchcock ...

Lisa Kitchens (A.C.T. M.F.A. Program class of 2014) in front of Stanislavsky's house in Moscow. The A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program class of 2014 recently returned from Moscow, where they were honored as the only U.S. acting school invited to attend the prestigious Stanislavsky Festival. They performed Federico García Lorca's  The House of Bernarda Alba , were featured on the  evening news , and interacted with students from England, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Poland, France, and Russia. We asked the students to share their photos and reflections from this unforgettable trip. To read more about their experiences, search for hashtag  #ACTinMoscow  on  Facebook  and  Twitter . Lisa Kitchens Our second morning in Moscow, we took a tour of Stanislavsky's home. We were elated to find out that the person giving our tour, Nikita, is actually Stanislavsky's great-great grandson. . .

Titus Tompkins Elektra continues through November 18. Learn more about the production and order tickets . Meet Titus Tompkins, a third-year student in the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program who plays Pylades in Sophocles’ Elektra . What are your preshow/postshow rituals? Pre: That's a secret! Post: Sleep! What's your favorite thing about San Francisco? The people. Growing up in the south, people always ask, "Who's your kin?" Out here, I get asked, "What's your sign?" I love the energy in the communities here. If you weren't an actor, what would you be? A construction worker. What was your most memorable Halloween costume? A John Deere tractor. What is your favorite moment in Elektra ? The first prayer in Greek . . . What is the most outrageous thing you've done to take revenge on someone? When I was a child, I cut the yarn in my grandmother's crochet project when she was nearly finished with a piece. I learned...

Posted by Cait Robinson, Publications Fellow L to R: Caroline Lagerfelt as Clytemnestra and René Augesen as Elektra in Sophocles' Elektra. Photo by Kevin Berne. Elektra continues through November 18. Learn more about the production and order tickets . To understand the role of women in Elektra , it is valuable to consider the classical concept of feminity. The Greeks viewed women ambiguously: though responsible for bearing children and propogating the human race, they were also descendents of Pandora and therefore members of a separate "race of women," less physically and mentally capable than men. Women were also considered more sexually voracious and predisposed to infidelity, naturally threatening to the order of the household, or oikos , which was their domain. Many texts from antiquity compare women to domesticated dogs—though they serve man and share his household, they forever hover between wild and tamed. Athenians were preoccupied with dividing wom...

A.C.T. Conservatory Director Melissa Smith, right, with A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program students Asher Grodman and Elyse Price. Photo by Philip Estrera. The A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program  class of 2014 recently returned from Moscow, where they were honored as the only U.S. acting school invited to attend the prestigious Stanislavsky Festival. They performed Federico García Lorca's  The House of Bernarda Alba , were featured on the  evening news , and interacted with students from England, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Poland, France, and Russia. We asked the students to share their photos and reflections from this unforgettable trip. To read more about their experiences, search for hashtag #ACTinMoscow on Facebook and Twitter . Asher Grodman We’re back home in San Francisco after a long flight, and I started thinking about how this incredible trip began.

Allegra Rose Edwards Elektra continues through November 18. Learn more about the production and order tickets . Meet Allegra Rose Edwards, a third-year student in the A.C.T. Master of Fine Arts Program who plays Chrysothemis in Sophocles'  Elektra . What are your preshow/postshow rituals? Pre: Water. Post: Beer. What’s your favorite thing about San Francisco? Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the free bluegrass festival every fall in Golden Gate Park! If you weren’t an actor, what would you be? A weather girl or a ballerina. What was your most memorable Halloween costume? I was a swimming pool in fifth grade. Blue wig, depth markers in puff paint (1–5 feet) all the way up my body, pool rules on my back, and to finish it off, a diving board (roof shingle) stapled to my headband with a Ken doll hot glued to the edge. So theatrical. What is your favorite moment in Elektra ? The Tutor’s speech [delivered by Anthony Fusco as The Tutor] and the beautifu...