Theatre is one of our culture’s most ancient and foundational art forms because of its unique ability to hold a mirror up to humanity and engage audiences in an intimate and personal way. As our society undertakes a widespread collective reckoning on social justice, we are looking back at how far we’ve come while honestly confronting how far we have to go. We believe that the arts deserve a place at the forefront of that conversation – both to address our industry’s own systemic inequities, and because we believe in the power of theatre as a force for social change.

As a community of theatre educators and practitioners and a flagship institution of Portland’s performing arts community since 1985, The Actors Conservatory is committed to living our equity commitment from the office to the classroom to the stage. As a training ground for emerging artists, our mission is to develop future generations of actors, in Portland and beyond, who truly represent the diverse world we live in. Our equity and inclusion values are essential as an active, daily practice on every level of our recruitment, hiring, staffing, teaching, and production. We are committed as individuals and as an organization to being lifelong learners in this work, and to sharing our experiences, actions and best practices with others in our field.