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

The company was founded 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.

A defining characteristic of Aurora Theatre Company is its intimate performance space and its emphasis on subtlety, shadings of feeling and ensemble responsiveness. Aurora Theatre Company is often referred to as “chamber theatre.” In 20 years of operation, it has won 20 awards from the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle in the areas of acting, directing, ensemble and costume work. Aurora Theatre Company received the coveted $25,000 Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation award in 2000 for new play production and the San Francisco Weekly named Aurora Theatre Company Outstanding Bay Area Theatre Company.

Aurora Theatre Company offers acting opportunities to talented Bay Area performers. 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 and Aurora Theatre Company has been commended for the high percentage of Equity actors in its productions. In addition to the five play season, they produce an annual staged reading festival known as the Global Age Project.

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

Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It was founded in 1968, as the East Bay’s first resident professional theatre. Michael Leibert was the founding artistic director, who was then succeeded by Sharon Ott in 1984. The company runs seven...

. Audiences consist of theatregoers from the East Bay and San Francisco, and is quickly expanding in the Greater Bay Area.

World or West Coast Premiere Productions

2009-2010
The First Grade - Joel Drake Johnson (world premiere)
Speech & Debate - Stephen Karam (bay area premiere)

2008-2009
The Coverlettes Cover Christmas (world premiere)
Betrayed - George Packer (west coast premiere)
Jack Goes Boating - Bob Glaudini (bay area 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 (west coast premiere)

2006-2007
Ice Glen - Joan Ackermann (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)

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)

2003-2004
Antigone Falun Gong - Cherylene Lee (world premiere)

2002-2003
Alarms and Excursions - Michael Frayn (west coast premiere)
Partition - Ira Hauptman (world premiere)

1999-2000
Transcendental Wild Oats - LeClanche DuRand (world premiere)
Split - Mayo Simon (world premiere)

1998-1999
Death Defying Acts - Mamet, May, Allen (west coast premiere)

1997-1998
Abigail's Party - Mike Leigh (American premiere)
Posing for Gauguin - Dorothy Bryant (world premiere)

1996-1997
Gunplay - Frank Higgins (west coast premiere)

1995-1996
The Panel - Dorothy Bryant (world premiere)

1991-1992
Dear Master - Dorothy Bryant (world premiere)

See also

• American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco
• TheatreWorks (Silicon Valley)
  TheatreWorks (Silicon Valley)
  TheatreWorks is a non-profit, professional theater company based in Menlo Park, California and founded in July, 1970. The company is a member of the League of Resident Theatres and employs some 300 artists annually, including Equity and non-Equity actors, directors, designers and specialty artists...
  
  , Palo Alto, California
  Palo Alto, California
  Palo Alto is a California charter city located in the northwest corner of Santa Clara County, in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. The city shares its borders with East Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Stanford, Portola Valley, and Menlo Park. It is...
  
  
• San Jose Repertory Theatre
  San Jose Repertory Theatre
  The San Jose Repertory Theatre was founded in 1980 by James P. Reber as the first resident professional theatre company in San Jose, California, and is currently the largest non-profit, professional theatre company in the South Bay...
  
  
• Berkeley Repertory Theatre
  Berkeley Repertory Theatre
  Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It was founded in 1968, as the East Bay’s first resident professional theatre. Michael Leibert was the founding artistic director, who was then succeeded by Sharon Ott in 1984. The company runs seven...
  
  
• Marin Shakespeare Company
  Marin Shakespeare Company
  The Marin Shakespeare Company was re-established in 1989 at the Dominican College’s Forest Meadows Amphitheatre by Lesley Currier and Robert Currier....