Venue: New Conservatory Theatre Center
Address: 25 Van Ness Avenue at Market Street
Town: San Francisco, US

The New Conservatory Theatre Center (NCTC) is a not-for-profit theatre company located in the Civic Center neighborhood at 25 Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, California. NCTC showcases a Pride Season, an In-Concert/Cabaret Series, Family Matinee performances, YouthAware Touring Educational Theatre, and an Emerging Artists program. NCTC also houses a comprehensive conservatory for youth and adults. Founded in 1981 as a small theatre arts conservatory for low-income youth by Ed Decker (a former director of the American Conservatory Theater’s Young Conservatory), NCTC has been in operation for over 40 years. In 1986, as a response to the AIDS epidemic heavily affecting San Francisco, Decker created the landmark YouthAware Touring Educational Theatre program, which has since expanded to address an array of health and wellness concerns, been translated into five languages, and achieved national and international recognition. To date, more than 4.5 million youth in the U.S., Germany, Australia, South Africa, Holland, and the U.K. have seen YouthAware Theatre-in-Education programs in their schools and communities. In 2004, Decker received the STOP AIDS Award for his work. In 1995, Decker premiered the first Pride Season, a series of LGBT-themed performances that has since attracted many renowned LGBT and allied playwrights and directors. Decker has developed and/or premiered plays for NCTC’s main stage with artists such as Norman Allen, Terrence McNally, Edmund White, Joe Mantello, Mart Crowley, Brad Fraser, David Marshall Grant, Jonathan Harvey, Jewelle Gomez, and Lee Blessing. NCTC's theatre performance program is anchored around their mainstage season, an eleven-month season featuring an average of eight plays and musicals. Plays are selected based on their examination of LGBT issues as they relate to the current world. NCTC also houses a Family Matinee program, featuring performances designed for children aged 4-10 and their families. === New Play Development Lab and E