Gordon Edelstein, artistic director of A Contemporary Theater, is returning to the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven, Conn., to take a similar post.

Edelstein, the Long Wharf’s associate artistic director before he came to ACT in 1997, said Sunday he would take the new post June 30 after a few years of commuting between homes in Seattle and New York, where his wife and two children live.

“The only reason I’m making this choice is for my family,” Edelstein said. “I love ACT and have been very happy working in this theater. It’s just that my family lives 3,000 miles away, and especially since Sept. 11, that has become a real cause of concern for me.”

During Edelstein’s tenure, attendance and subscription rates increased as he brought nationally known artists, including Julie Harris and Alan Arkin, and raised the company’s artistic level and diversity.

Among the well-received shows he directed were Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” Donald Margulies’ “Dinner With Friends” and the American premiere of Martin McDonagh’s “A Skull in Connemara,” which went on to a successful Off-Broadway run.

Edelstein said he would be back to meet contractual obligations to direct two ACT shows this year, the season-opening Eugene O’Neill classic “Mourning Becomes Electra” starring Jane Alexander and a new musical, “The Education of Randy Newman.”

–Associated Press