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History Good theater has become increasingly expensive making live theater readily available only to a certain economic class. Frustrated by this trend, not to mention our own inability to afford theater tickets, the founders of Affordable Theater banded together to create a theater for the common man. Since we charge little, or in many cases nothing, for admittance we are succeeding in delivering great live theater at reasonable prices. Beginning as a group of actors performing modified works of Shakespeare at a variety of events sponsored by educational non-profit groups, Affordable Theater officially incorporated in 2002 and received its 501(c)(3) classification in early 2003. We quickly realized that a large part of bringing theater to the community was bringing theater to the schools. With that in mind, we developed Sarah's Troupe, a performance company that could appear in a variety of spaces: from classrooms to auditoriums to open fields. Sarah’s Troupe’s flexibility makes it a viable option for both traditional and non-traditional schools. Fittingly, our first performance as Affordable Theater, Inc. was Shakespeare 101: An Introduction for the Horizons Home Study program. Bios Charlotte Schaefer A graduate of Stanford University’s Classics Department, Charlotte has long had a fascination with theater. Despite this, after graduation, she chose to enter the corporate world. After seven years as a writer for several high-tech companies including Red Hat, Echelon, and Cooper Interaction Design, Charlotte returned to the theater world and now imposes a bit of corporate order on the artistic chaos. In addition to her work with Affordable Theater, Charlotte is also the Northern California Representative for AACT a nationwide organization of community theaters. Deirdre McGaffey Our resident technical expert, Deirdre brings with her over 15 years of Stage Management, Design, and Technical experience. She received her degree in Technical Theater from The State University of New York, University at Buffalo. She has worked in theater companies in New York, Maine, Massachusetts, Virginia, and here in California. Deirdre is the one we call when we need to know if physics is going to get in the way of our grand design. Vision Since ATI began we have grown from performing just once in our first year, to performing a dozen shows a year, including one exciting week when we performed two different shows just seven days apart. Sarah's Troupe performed at five different schools in 2004, and has been contacted again by every one. Currently our main growth interest lies in finding a permanent home. This will allow us to begin mainstage productions, which have always been at the core of ATI's plan. A home will also allow us to increase our workshops, our storage space, and our rehearsal time.