Aurora Theatre Company Announces 25th Birthday Gift Campaign

Currently celebrating its 25th anniversary season, Berkeley's acclaimed Aurora Theatre Company announced today the public phase of the company's 25th Birthday Gift Campaign. The campaign aims to raise funds to provide a more comfortable and fulfilling audience experience and provide theater artists with a better environment in which to do their work. As Aurora reaches its 25th birthday, it's time to celebrate the Aurora experience, refresh the theater, and prepare for the next quarter century.

"Has it really been 25 years? It really doesn't feel that long," said Aurora Theatre Company Artistic Director Tom Ross. "Sometimes I look back at one of our productions and realize that we produced that play more than a decade ago! How can that be? It certainly has been a mind-expanding adventure helping to start a theater company from the ground up, watching it grow and expand through the Herculean efforts of staff and Board, artists and audiences. The purpose of our 25th Birthday Gift Campaign is to celebrate all that we have accomplished together as a community and to continue to strive for excellence during our next 25 years."

Funds raised by the campaign will go towards replacing Aurora Theatre Company's Assistive Listening Device (ALD) system, expanding restroom facilities, upgrading the existing heating and air conditioning system, adding and updating indoor and outdoor lighting, upgrading and supplementing light and sound equipment in the company's Second Stage, The Nell and Jules Dashow Wing, and building a new mobile-friendly website. A portion of the campaign funds raised will also support a "Fund for the Future" that will enable Aurora to sustain its programming for the next 25 years. The fund will provide Aurora with the resources to take creative risks and continue to produce new plays. As operating costs rise, Aurora needs this fund more than ever.

Veteran Bay Area actor and director Barbara Oliver, along with Dorothy Bryant, Marge Glicksman, Richard Rossi, and Ken Grantham formed Aurora Theatre Company in 1992.

Aurora Theatre Company's 25th season continues in November on the main stage with the West Coast Premiere of Keith Josef Adkins'SAFE HOUSE, helmed by L. Peter Callender, followed by Tom Stoppard's THE REAL THING in January, directed by Timothy Near. Jon Tracy helms the Bay Area Premiere of Sarah Greenman's LENI in March. Steve Waters' TEMPLE makes its' U.S. Premiere at Aurora in April, directed by Artistic Director Tom Ross. Abi Morgan's SPLENDOUR, directed by Barbara Damashek, closes the season in June.

Voted Best Theater Company in 2012 by SF Weekly, Aurora Theatre Company continues to offer challenging, literate, intelligent stage works to the Bay Area, each year increasing its reputation for top-notch theater. Located in the heart of the Downtown Berkeley Arts District, Aurora Theatre Company, declared "one of the best regional theaters around" by 7x7 magazine, has been called "one of the most important regional theaters in the area" and "a must-see midsize company" by the San Francisco Chronicle, while The Wall Street Journal has "nothing but praise for the Aurora." The Contra Costa Times stated "perfection is probably an unattainable ideal in a medium as fluid as live performance, but the Aurora Theatre comes luminously close," while the San Jose Mercury News affirmed Aurora Theatre Company is "arguably the finest small theater in the Bay Area," and the Oakland Tribune stated "it's all about choices, and if you value good theater, choose the Aurora."

For tickets or more information about Aurora Theatre Company, the public can call (510) 843-4822 or visit auroratheatre.org.