Aurora Theatre Company

{{ infobox theatre group

| name = Aurora Theatre Company

| image = Aurora-Theatre.gif

| imagesize =

| caption =

| ArtisticDirector = Josh Costello

| formed = 1991

| location = Berkeley, California

| disbanded =

| members =

| notable =

| homepage = [http://www.auroratheatre.org http://www.auroratheatre.org]

| genre =

}}Aurora Theatre Company is a professional theatre company located in Berkeley, California.

History

The company was founded by actor and director Barbara Oliver along with Dorothy Bryant, Marge Glicksman, Richard Rossi, and Ken Grantham 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.{{Cite web |author=Berkeleyside Staff |date=2013-05-23 |title=Barbara Oliver, iconic Bay Area theatre figure |url=https://www.berkeleyside.org/2013/05/23/barbara-oliver-iconic-figure-in-bay-area-theatre |access-date=2025-03-09 |website=Berkeleyside |language=en-US}} The founders of Aurora Theatre Company came together around the development and production of a new play: Dorothy Bryant's Dear Master.{{Cite web |last=Fancher |first=Lou |date=2016-09-13 |title=Aurora Revives Inaugural Production: Dear Master |url=https://eastbayexpress.com/aurora-revives-inaugural-production-dear-master-2-1/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210305194029/https://eastbayexpress.com/aurora-revives-inaugural-production-dear-master-2-1/ |archive-date=2021-03-05 |access-date=2025-03-08 |website=East Bay Express {{!}} Oakland, Berkeley & Alameda |language=en-US}}

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.{{Citation needed|date=May 2020}}

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.{{cite web|title=the critics weigh in on our new theatre|url=http://www.auroratheatre.org/theatrerevs.php#chron|last=Aurora Theater Company|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101220030537/http://www.auroratheatre.org/theatrerevs.php|archivedate=20 December 2010|accessdate=11 February 2011}}

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 named Aurora Outstanding Bay Area Theatre Company.

They operate under a Tier 4 BAT contract with Actors' Equity Association. 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.

Image:Aurora_Theatre_Building.jpg

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 (American premiere)
Posing for Gauguin - Dorothy Bryant (world premiere)

1998–1999

Death Defying Acts - David Mamet, 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 (west coast premiere)
Partition - Ira Hauptman (world premiere)

2003–2004

Antigone Falun Gong - Cherylene Lee (world premiere)

2004–2005

The Persians - Aeschylus, new adaptation by Ellen McLaughlin (west coast premiere)
Emma - Michael Fry, from the novel by Jane Austen (west coast premiere)

2005–2006

Marius - Marcel Pagnol, translated by Zack Rogow (world premiere translation)
The Master Builder - Henrik Ibsen, translated by Paul Walsh (world premiere translation)
Small Tragedy - Craig Lucas (west coast premiere)

2006–2007