American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) is a large non-profit theater company in San Francisco, California, that offers both classical an contemporary theater productions. A.C.T.was founded in 1965 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by theatre and opera director William Ball. By invitation from San Francisco philanthropists and officials, Ball relocated the company to San Francisco and astonished the theatre world by presenting twenty-seven fully staged productions in rotating repertory, in two different theatres, during the first 40-week season. San Francisco Chronicle critic Paine Knickerbocker acclaimed Ball's opening performance of Molière's Tartuffe as "a screaming, bellowing unbelievable triumph."