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Crowded Fire Theater Company is dedicated to discovering and developing work that challenges audiences to see the world differently. Founded in 1997 by a small group of artists after a successful Fringe Festival show, Crowded Fire has grown into one of the key players in San Francisco's independent theater community. Now embarking on its 11th season, Crowded Fire has earned a reputation for innovation, for the unexpected, for delighting, and puzzling audiences with theatrical work that is genuinely on the edge. In 2005, Crowded Fire was honored with a Guardian Outstanding Local Discovery (GOLDIE) award. In the Goldie article, Guardian critic Rob Avila wrote: "Success like this is always exceptional,One way Crowded Fire has gained that success is by establishing a well-deserved reputation for challenging modern work as aesthetically rich as it is politically and socially provocative." Our work aims to build a community of artists and audience hungry for and fulfilled by a unique and often new piece of theatrical performance. This includes work that requires development or creative re-thinking. Our process is extremely collaborative, involving many artists in a room, including playwrights, actors, dancers, designers, composers, dramaturges, directors, and audience. Under the leadership of Co- Artistic Directors Cassie Beck and Kent Nicholson, and Managing Director Tiffany Cothran, Crowded Fire is composed of 20 member artists, whose dedication and talent represent one of the company's most significant strengths. Our reputation for supporting artists and valuing long-term collaboration has brought us tremendous respect in the theater community and allowed us to develop a loyal following among individuals who enjoy watching artists refine their work over time, have an ear for poetry and a hankering for class warfare, who come expecting theater, not television. Crowded Fire is constantly developing new theater pieces that are commissioned by the company, created specifically for our artists, or generated by the ensemble themselves. We are equally dedicated to existing work by noted contemporary experimenters such as Charles Mee, Mac Wellman, Caryl Churchill, Erik Ehn, Mickey Birnbaum, and Liz Duffy Adams. Recent productions include world premieres by Sheila Callaghan, Christine Evans, and Dominic Orlando.