Joyce Maltby is not, repeat not, retiring. But when Hawaii Pacific University’s current production of "You Can’t Take It With You" closes April 26, her 23-year tenure as head of the college’s theater program will close as well.

"I hope to be able to continue directing and possibly acting with various theaters in town," she said. "The Actors’ Group has already asked me to direct there, and I plan to do some private teaching. I don’t plan to retire until I can’t do anything anymore."

Maltby, 78, said leaving HPU will be "a very momentous moment in my life. It’s not necessarily a sad momentous moment, but it’s a major one."

HPU spokeswoman Teresa McCreary dispelled rumors that Maltby’s departure signals the end of the school’s theater program. The college no longer offers a full degree in theater, but students can minor in it. According to Maltby, approximately 75 students were enrolled in theater classes per semester during the 2013-14 academic year.

"We will have a theater program next school year," McCreary said via email. "We will still have two productions that will be open to the public, like we do now."

Maltby’s teaching contract ended in August, and she was given a temporary contract through May to direct and produce the college’s fall and spring shows, "Fiddler on the Roof" and "You Can’t Take It With You," but is not teaching.

A replacement for Maltby has not been named.

"No one can replace Joyce Maltby. She’s an institution in Hawaii," McCreary said. "She’s given us a standard to strive for as we continue our theater program. Right now we have thriving acting classes at HPU and experienced theater faculty who are committed to producing quality shows that will entertain and delight theatergoers."

"You Can’t Take It With You" is the 50th production Maltby has directed since she was hired to develop a theater program at the Windward Oahu campus in 1992. Since then she has directed a show each semester and occasionally presented a smaller third show as well.

"I looked for really good shows," she said. "I didn’t do any Asian shows because (the University of Hawaii) was so much better equipped to do that. But it was more in terms of thinking about what the Windward community audiences would like to see — but they also had to be what I considered to be good shows."

Those "good shows" included four or five plays by Arthur Miller, one of Maltby’s favorite playwrights.

The HPU theater program was always much smaller than those at Leeward Community College and UH-Manoa. Maltby says relatively few students came to auditions, so she found it necessary to cast most of her shows from the community at large. The casts frequently included her daughters, Melinda and Becky, both of whom had extensive performance credits with other community theater groups and as television and film actors.

Maltby explained to the college administration that by opening the casting to the public, HPU would be able to pre­sent shows on a consistent basis and heighten awareness of HPU and its theater program. Officials greenlighted her plan.

"As a result of that, the few students who were interested have been given a chance to work with seasoned actors in the community. It was good for the university, it was good for the community, and good for our students," Maltby said.

There has been at least one HPU student in each of the regular semester shows, she added, and work by students has been presented in separate public productions.

Maltby had an impressive resume when HPU contacted her in 1993. Born and raised in Chicago, she began her career in theater at the age of 7 and continued through college. Maltby came to Hawaii in 1962 with her first husband, Joseph Maltby, and became active in theater here. She left Hawaii in 1972 but returned in 1980, got a Master of Fine Arts degree at UH-Manoa and was teaching theater at UH when she was contacted by the smaller, private college.

Maltby created the theater curriculum that is still in place and oversaw improvements to the campus theater, which had a small and uneven stage and only 79 seats. Elevated seating doubled capacity, the sound and light booth was enclosed, and new chairs and stage lighting were added.

The venue is now known as the Paul and Vi Loo Theatre, named in honor of a college founder and his wife, who made generous contributions to HPU.

Looking back at the 50 shows she directed there, Maltby struggles to designate any as being her favorite but says one would be "Fiddler on the Roof," staged last fall.

"It meant a lot to me to be able to do that one," she said.

The list of 50 productions includes three musicals written by her husband, Norm Boroughs.

Maltby received the Hawaii State Theatre Council’s Pierre Bowman Award for lifetime achievement in 1998.

"I delivered what I said I thought I could do," she said. "I delivered this baby and now it’s grown up."