Alternative Theater Ensemble provides new play development and production programs and services, produces contemporary works from diverse voices, and serves predominantly low-income audiences with these programs and services.

In 2011, we started our flagship yearlong playwright residency program, AlterLab, supporting 3-5 writers as each self-identifies a creative risk or challenge they wish to take with their work, supports their fellow playwrights, and writes a new play. Alter Theater historically produces on average 75% of all work created and developed in AlterLab.

Our Mainstage Tour program has produced more than 20 world premieres and our commissioning program has been operating since 2008. Adam Greenfield, associate artistic director of Playwrights Horizons, says of AlterLab, “Each play tells such a specific, and underrepresented, story with a unique and glowing voice.”

Alternative Theater Ensemble prioritizes meeting communities where they are and adapting theatrical frameworks to their needs. Our shift in focus from traditional theatre productions to applied theatre models reflects ATE’s commitment to responding to the industry’s evolving landscape and supporting communities across the Bay Area through art.