Aurora Theatre Company is a professional theatre company located in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and Emer ...

History

The company was founded by actor and director Barbara Oliver in 1992 with the desire to continue to produce plays "about something important; ideas mediated by language and people, which are assisted by other elements like sets, lights and costumes," not dominated by them. The founders of Aurora Theatre Company came together around the development and production of a new play: Dorothy Bryant's ''Dear Master''.

Programs

The company produces a five play season. In addition to their regular season, they produce an annual staged reading festival known as the Global Age Project.

Location

Aurora Theatre Company has a small, intimate performance space, and has been referred to as “chamber theatre.” In 2001, the company moved to a dedicated custom-designed 150-seat theater in downtown Berkeley, situated immediately adjacent to the

Berkeley Repertory Theatre Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It runs seven productions each season from its two stages in Downtown Berkeley. History The company was founded in 1968, as the East Bay's first resident p ...

Recognition

It has won 20 awards from the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. Aurora received a $25,000 Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation award in 2000 for new play production. The

San Francisco Weekly ''SF Weekly'' was a free alternative weekly newspaper founded in the 1970s in San Francisco, California. It was distributed every Thursday, and was published by the San Francisco Print Media Company. The paper has won national journalism awards, ...

named Aurora Outstanding Bay Area Theatre Company. They operate under a Tier 4 BAT contract with

Actors' Equity Association The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a boo ...

. Currently, more than one-third of the budget is allocated to acting salaries, with Aurora Theatre Company having been commended for the high percentage of Equity actors in its productions.

List of productions that premiered at Aurora

1991–1992 *''Dear Master'' - Dorothy Bryant (world premiere) 1995–1996 *''The Panel'' - Dorothy Bryant (world premiere) 1996–1997 *''Gunplay'' - Frank Higgins (west coast premiere) 1997–1998 *''Abigail's Party'' -

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design ...

(American premiere) *''Posing for Gauguin'' - Dorothy Bryant (world premiere) 1998–1999 *''Death Defying Acts'' -

David Mamet David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...

, May, Allen (west coast premiere) 1999–2000 *''Transcendental Wild Oats'' - LeClanche DuRand (world premiere) *''Split'' - Mayo Simon (world premiere) 2002–2003 *''Alarms and Excursions'' -

Michael Frayn Michael Frayn, FRSL (; born 8 September 1933) is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce ''Noises Off'' and the dramas ''Copenhagen'' and ''Democracy''. His novels, such as '' Towards the End of the Mo ...

(west coast premiere) *''Partition'' - Ira Hauptman (world premiere) 2003–2004 *''Antigone Falun Gong'' - Cherylene Lee (world premiere) 2004–2005 *''

The Persians ''The Persians'' ( grc, Πέρσαι, ''Persai'', Latinised as ''Persae'') is an ancient Greek tragedy written during the Classical period of Ancient Greece by the Greek tragedian Aeschylus. It is the second and only surviving part of a now other ...

'' -

Aeschylus Aeschylus (, ; grc-gre, Αἰσχύλος ; c. 525/524 – c. 456/455 BC) was an ancient Greek tragedian, and is often described as the father of tragedy. Academic knowledge of the genre begins with his work, and understanding of earlier Greek ...

, new adaptation by

Ellen McLaughlin Ellen McLaughlin is an American playwright and actress. Early years McLaughlin attended Potomac School (McLean, Virginia), The Potomac School in McLean, Virginia for elementary school (through 9th grade). She subsequently attended Sidwell Fr ...

(west coast premiere) *''Emma'' - Michael Fry, from the novel by

Jane Austen Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...

(west coast premiere) 2005–2006 *''Marius'' - Marcel Pagnol, translated by Zack Rogow (world premiere translation) *''

The Master Builder ''The Master Builder'' ( no, Bygmester Solness) is a play by Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen. It was first published in December 1892 and is regarded as one of Ibsen's more significant and revealing works. Performance The play was published ...

'' -

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright and theatre director. As one of the founders of modernism in theatre, Ibsen is often referred to as "the father of realism" and one of the most influential playw ...

, translated by Paul Walsh (world premiere translation) *''Small Tragedy'' -

Craig Lucas Craig Lucas (born April 30, 1951) is an American playwright, screenwriter, theatre director, musical actor, and film director. Biography Born on April 30, 1951, he was found abandoned in a car in Atlanta, Georgia. Lucas was adopted when he was ...

(west coast premiere) 2006–2007 *''Ice Glen'' - Joan Ackermann (west coast premiere) 2007–2008 *''Satellites'' - Diana Son (west coast premiere) *''The Trojan Women'' - Ellen McLaughlin/Euripides (professional world premiere) *''The Busy World is Hushed'' -

Keith Bunin Keith Bunin (born c. 1971)Veronica Rueckert ''Wisconsin State Journal'', October 23, 2003 . is an American dramatist and screenwriter. His plays include ''The Credeaux Canvas'', Alvin Klein"3 Youths, Adrift in Life and a Play" ''The New York Time ...

(west coast premiere) 2008–2009 *''The Coverlettes Cover Christmas'' (world premiere) *''Betrayed'' -

George Packer George Packer (born August 13, 1960) is a US journalist, novelist, and playwright. He is best known for his writings for ''The New Yorker'' and ''The Atlantic'' about U.S. foreign policy and for his book '' The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraq'' ...

(west coast premiere) *''

Jack Goes Boating ''Jack Goes Boating'' is a 2010 American romantic drama film directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman (in his only career directorial effort) and stars Hoffman in the title role, as well as Amy Ryan, John Ortiz and Daphne Rubin-Vega. The film's scr ...

'' - Bob Glaudini (bay area premiere) 2009–2010 *''The First Grade'' - Joel Drake Johnson (world premiere) *''Speech & Debate'' - Stephen Karam (bay area premiere) 2016–2017 *''Safe House'' - Keith Josef Adkins (west coast premiere) 2017–2018 *''

Eureka Day Eureka Day is a play by Jonathan Spector. It focuses on the debates around vaccination. Productions Eureka Day premiered at Aurora Theatre Company in Berkeley, California. The play opened off-Broadway on August 29, 2019. The cast included Tina ...

'' - Jonathan Spector (world premiere)

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
Theatre companies in Berkeley, California 1992 establishments in California Buildings and structures in Berkeley, California Performing groups established in 1992 Culture of Berkeley, California Theatres in the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre company production histories