Edward Payson Call was born on August 10, 1928 and spent over 50 years working in the theatre, beginning his career in New York City in the late 1950s working as a Broadway stage manager. In 1963, he joined the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota as a member of the inaugural artistic staff working alongside namesake director Tyrone Guthrie. Throughout the 1960s-1970s, Payson Call worked as a director at numerous regional theatres across the country, including three productions at Arena Stage in the mid-late 1970s. initially ran from December 1974 – January 1975 and again from April – June 1976 as part of the "All American Repertory" along with directed by Zelda Fichandler and directed by Alan Schneider. ran from January – February 1976 and his final directing credit at Arena Stage, , ran from March – April 1977. In 1980, he was appointed as the founding Artistic Director of the Denver Center Theatre Company in Colorado, a position he held for five years. In the 1990s, after moving to Seattle, Washington, he continued working as a freelance director and teacher in numerous locations across the country, and in 1992 founded Seattle's Young Shakespeare Workshop. He passed away on February 1, 2023 at the age of 94.

One of the first not-for-profit theatres in the United States, as well as a pioneer of the regional theatre movement, Arena Stage was the first regional theatre to transfer a production to Broadway (, 1967), the first invited by the U.S. State Department to tour the Soviet Union, and the first to receive a Tony Award. During the 1960s, Arena garnered international renown in its new space: the Arena Stage Theatre. The new building, located at Sixth Street and Maine Avenue SW, was the first playhouse built in Washington, D.C. since 1895. Generosity on the part of David Lloyd Kreeger, and others, led to the construction of the new "Kreeger Theatre," which opened formally on January 15, 1971. Today, Arena Stage performs to over 250,000 patrons during a September to June season and employs nearly 200 theatre professionals.