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. 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 produced a five play season until 2024, when its programming was cut to four productions. In addition to their regular season, they produced an annual staged reading festival known as the Global Age Project.
Location Aurora Theatre Company had a small, intimate performance space, and had been referred to as “chamber theatre.”
In 2000, the company moved to a dedicated custom-designed 150-seat theater in downtown Berkeley, situated immediately adjacent to the Berkeley Repertory Theatre. The company closed its theater in 2025.
Recognition The company 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.
Financial woes and suspension of programming In June 2024 Aurora approached Berkeley City Council for emergency funding of $350,000. The company was granted $150,000 by the city and raised an additional $250,000 from private donors. The company downsized employees, scaled back its season from five to four productions, and the then artistic director Costello and managing director Robin Dolan each agreed to take a 25% pay cut (at the time Costello earned in excess of $110,000 and Dolan over $88,000 per year). In May 2025 the company sought additional emergency funding of $50,000 to finish its season and announced the suspension of its planned 2025-2026 season, citing a $500,000 budget deficit and flagging subscriptions.
As the staff was laid off in August 2025, then-artistic director Josh Costello hinted at a possible merger with another Bay Area theater company, but did not provide details. No performances have been announced beyond August 2025, when the company's production of The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe closed. In May 2026, the company website described its state as one of "hibernation."
In June 2026 the company announced new artistic leadership in Jennifer King and Jenn Ruygt as artistic director and managing director, respectively, with the goal of producing a 2027-2028 season, though it will not be returning to its former Berkeley space.
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 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 (west coast premiere)
2008–2009 The Coverlettes Cover Christmas (world premiere) Betrayed - George Packer (west coast premiere) Jack Goes Boating - 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 - Jonathan Spector (world premiere)
References
External links Official website