Public Statements

A Message from the Artistic Director
November 21st, 2024

The events of November 5th have brought this country to a place where many of us are being force-fed a jagged and bitter pill. A pill that gives even greater leverage to those who have spent decades chipping away at the rights of women, immigrants, the Queer community and the less fortunate among us. At the heart of this misguided prescription is a compound of lies, distortions, Fascism, false promises and bluster that regrettably a majority of the electorate has chosen to endorse.

So be it.

As a small but feisty theatre company in San Francisco, NCTC has championed arts education and thoughtful, groundbreaking, socially relevant productions for over four decades. While we are not in position to dismantle a massive political charade, we are able to fight back one story at a time. NCTC and theatres across America can and will continue, with even greater energy, to do the work we have always done. Through the transformative power of theatre, we will press forward shining the light on our history, arguing for present day equality and envisioning a future that is nourished by the multiplicity of our humanity.

To all our incredibly loyal donors, audiences, students, staff, Board of Directors, friends, and artisans rest assured that your stories are vital and NCTC will continue to tell them. They are even more precious in a world in turmoil. Together we shall gather, bear witness and find our collective heartbeat beneath the blazing, revealing, and reassuring glow of the stage lights.

When the pill is jagged and bitter there is only one thing to be done – spit it out.

Ed Decker
Founder and Artistic Director
New Conservatory Theatre Center