American Conservatory Theater to Present Its Summer Young Conservatory Festival

American Conservatory Theater has announced the shows that will make up its summer Young Conservatory Festival, including the world premiere of Top of the Pyramid and Fields of Gold: The Music of Sting.

Top of the Pyramid is a collaboration among A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory, A.C.T.’s Education & Community Programs, and Oakland’s Destiny Arts Center, directed by A.C.T. Community Artistic Director Tyrone Davis. In this new commission by Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright Nikkole Salter (In the Continuum), a school district in Ferguson, Missouri, loses accreditation, and a group of friends opt to get bused to a high school across the tracks. The production will run from July 26-30 in the Rueff at A.C.T.’s Strand Theater and from August 5-7 at Destiny Arts Center.

Featuring a cast of young actors, the ensemble of Top of the Pyramid includes Kiya Bailey, Phoebe Brady, Isabella Sonia Choy, Dario Drakes, Anna Granados, Kyla Henderson, Naomi Ladenburg, Desiree Lewis, Chelsea Looy, Lucian Patton, Alexander Richardson, and Makhissa Sano.

Fields of Gold: The Music of Sting, a celebration of the music of singer-songwriter Sting, will play at A.C.T.’s Strand Theater from August 16-27. Featuring a book by Craig Slaight and direction by Domenique Lozano and Slaight, Fields of Gold: The Music of Sting features 30 years of music, interwoven with a unique story concerning a group of Amish and non-Amish youth coming of age in the American heartland. Music direction will be by Krista Wigle with choreography by Christine Mattison.

The cast of Fields of Gold: The Music of Sting includes Ethan Bartley, Quincy Corcello, Penny Devlin, Ariane Evans, Ross Graham, Oliver Klein, Michaella Kuni, Tobiah Richkind, Casey Schryer, Amy Semmelmayer, and Kaitlyn Tom.

For tickets to Top of the Pyramid, click here.

For tickets to Fields of Gold, click here.