Staff

BEN VILLEGAS RANDLE

ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Pronouns: He/Him

Prior to relocating to the Bay, Ben spent seven years in NYC, where he was the 2019 Drama League Leo Shull Musical Theatre Directing Fellow. In New York, Ben directed a newly re-imagined production of Michael John LaChiusa’s musical Hello Again with four actors, for Drama League’s DirectorFest 2020; a world premiere by Anniello Fontano for NYU/Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute; Clare Baron’s Dance Nation for NYU/Atlantic Acting School, and a virtual film of Lauren Yee’s existential slasher comedy Hookman for Atlantic Training Company. He was also a 2017-18 Manhattan Theatre Club Directing Fellow.

In 2023, he directed the second production of Christopher Oscar Peña’s how to make an American Son at Profile Theatre, in Portland, OR. He will stage the Bay Area Premiere at NCTC in 2026.

Highlights from his NCTC productions include (in chronological order): The Submission by Jeff Talbott (West Coast Premiere, 2013); Pansy, a solo play written with Evan Johnson about generational ghosts in SF queer nightlife (2013, 2014); Salome, Dance for Me, an original glam rock musical he conceived with rock musician and award-winning drag queen trixxie carr and Robert Mollicone of San Francisco Opera (World Premiere, 2015); Sagittarius Ponderosa by MJ Kaufman, which is the first trans narrative by a trans writer in NCTC’s subscription season (World Premiere, 2016); Sons of the Prophet by Stephen Karam (Bay Area Premiere, 2016); warplay by JC Lee, an NCTC commission about the legendary love story between Achilles and Patroclus (World Premiere, 2017); and To My Girls by JC Lee (West Coast Premiere, 2025).

Other San Francisco (non-NCTC) highlights include the world premiere of Into the Clear Blue Sky by JC Lee (2011, BATCC Nom., Best Director), and The Fisherman’s Wife by Steve Yockey (Impact Theatre, 2012).

Ben has worked at New York Stage and Film, Berkeley Rep, NYU / Atlantic Acting School, Lee Strasberg Institute of Film & Theatre/NYU, Aurora Theatre, Latinx Playwrights Circle, National Queer Theater, CalShakes, Just Theater, Thrillpeddlers, Brava! and West Edge Opera. He is a graduate of San Francisco State University and a member of Lincoln Center Theatre Directors Lab.

ED DECKER

FOUNDER & ARTISTIC DIRECTOR EMERITUS
Pronouns: He/Him

Ed Decker is the Founding Artistic Director of The New Conservatory Theatre Center, a graduate of San Francisco State University and a former Director of the American Conservatory Theatre Young Conservatory. He is particularly proud of NCTC’s Pride Season, Emerging Artist Residencies, New Play Commissions, Conservatory and the YouthAware touring theatre-in-education program. Since 1981, Ed has produced and/or directed over 500 plays, musicals and special events for NCTC.

Ed has also served as a site evaluator for the California Arts Council, Marin Arts Council, and the National Endowment for the Arts. He is a recent recipient of the STOP AIDS award for the groundbreaking NCTC YouthAware HIV education programs and is a two time winner of the SF Chamber of Commerce Arts Excellence Award.

BARBARA HODGEN

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Pronouns: She/Her

Barbara comes to NCTC from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, where she was Interim Managing Director. Her prior Bay Area experience includes Conservatory Administrator at The American Conservatory Theatre, Managing Director of the California Shakespeare Festival, and Assistant Managing Director at Berkeley Rep. She also spent a fun – and hot! – five years in the desert as Company Manager for Blue Man Group in Las Vegas. Barbara holds an M.F.A. from the Yale School of Drama and a B.A from Vassar College.