Dear Friends-

Theatre teaches us that impermanence can be a virtue. A theatre performance is by definition ephemeral. It happens once. If you’re not in the room, you miss it. No recording can capture the experience of that moment, that visceral connection between the actors and the audience in the room. And yet that unique, brief, fleeting moment can change your life forever.

Thirty-three years is a lot more than a fleeting moment. Aurora has had thousands of performances of hundreds of plays since its inception in 1991, each one a unique experience. Hundreds of artists have found a home in this remarkable organization, often doing the best work of their lives right here. I am one of them, and I consider myself very lucky. Audiences have been enraptured, transported, provoked, challenged, and entertained. Aurora’s plays have inspired conversations, opened hearts and minds, and brought our community together. 

As we mourn the possible ending of Aurora’s thirty-three years of intimate, inspiring theatre in Berkeley, we also celebrate the remarkable achievements of this small but mighty organization. From its founding in 1992 by Bay Area legend Barbara Oliver, Aurora’s commitment to rich language, nuanced acting, and exploration of ideas has generated a long run of exquisite theatre. Barbara and Tom Ross, my predecessors as Artistic Director of Aurora, set very high standards for both the quality of the work and the integrity with which this organization operates. The plays and their accumulation of awards and accolades are impressive, and so are the deep connections this organization has nurtured with our community of artists and patrons and staff.

I’m tremendously sad that this is happening, and that it’s happening on my watch. Despite the best efforts of our staff and board and supporters, the economic situation in the Bay Area today simply no longer allows for the small professional nonprofit theater model on which Aurora was built. As with so many theaters, attendance never recovered from the pandemic – my sense is that social media and a broader cultural shift away from in-person socializing are as much to blame as COVID. Other fundamental challenges include vastly increased expenses, the cost of living in the Bay Area and consequent hiring and staff retention challenges, the lack of a culture of arts philanthropy in the Bay Area tech community, and the disarray of foundation and government funding. Aurora is not the first Bay Area theatre to cease operations in the wake of all this, and unfortunately it is unlikely to be the last.

This is a tragedy, of course. The in-person shared visceral experience that theatre provides is precisely the antidote to the so-called epidemic of loneliness that is sweeping our nation, and to the mistrust and fear that have allowed forces of hatred to ascend to power. Without theatre, we are poorer as a community and as individuals. 

But theatre as an art form will not disappear. Organizations will continue to come and go. We'll see new models for funding theatre; new models for making theatre. We're living in rapidly changing times; we need new stories, new narratives, new generations of storytellers and audiences. You can be a part of this. I urge you to support and attend the many amazing theaters that continue to find ways to serve this community. Support the big institutions that employ many local artists, and the small, innovative companies that are discovering new ways to tell meaningful stories. That’s how Aurora began, after all.

Aurora Theatre Company will always be an inspiration for me. I am so grateful for my thirteen years as part of this remarkable organization, and for the many many people who have been on this journey with me. While this moment is a sad one, I encourage everyone to look back on all that Aurora has accomplished, all the lives it has touched, all the stories it has told, and join me in celebration of Aurora, the ultimate intimate theatre company.

Thank you all.


Josh Costello
Artistic Director