The mission of EXIT Theatre is to develop theater artists by providing opportunities to perform and to develop an audience for that performance. Our focus is on providing open access opportunities for all theater artists so they can develop and experiment. We do this by commissioning, developing and producing new plays; providing production support and low cost theater rentals to small companies; hosting theaters and playwrights-in-residence; and by producing the San Francisco Fringe Festival, the largest grass roots theater festival in the Bay Area, and DIVAfest, dedicated to creating new plays and other work by women writers.

We operate a four venue, 250 seat theatreplex in the Tenderloin district of downtown San Francisco. Our four theaters range in size from 35 seats to 90 seats and annually host 100 independent theater companies.

EXIT Theatre was founded on Eddy Street in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood in 1983 when a group of method actors and retired vaudvillians came together under artistic director Christina Augello to perform a new play in the lobby of a residential hotel and passed the hat for funding. The local alternative press has named EXIT Theatre “Best Local Venue”, “Best (3,000 miles) Off-Broadway Theater”, “Best Off-Beat Theatre” and the artistic director has been named “Best Producer” and “Working Woman of the Year.”

San Francisco Fringe Festival

Each September, for twelve days begining the Wednesday after Labor Day, EXIT Theatre produces the San Francisco Fringe Festival.

The SF Fringe is open to all performers, is inexpensive, and 100% of the ticket revenue goes to the performers. The Fringe attracts a large supportive audience and provides production support and marketing benefiting the performers. The Fringe is open access and does not curate, providing uncensured opportunities of artists.

The San Francisco Fringe Festival began in 1992 when a collective of small local theater groups presented one weekend of performances by thirteen companies before an audience of 450 people. Since then the Fringe Festival has been presented each year and has grown to over 200 performances and an annual audience of 10,000 people. The Fringe Festival is a major resource for independent theater groups and has provided opportunities for over 500 different theater companies to perform.

GRANTS AWARDED

In 2009, the Foundation supported the expansion of their theatreplex by adding a 49-seat theater and a classroom/rehearsal space.

In 2010, the Foundation supported the EXIT Press Play Publication, to publish plays by four playwrights with the goal of extending the lives of plays, and supporting the authors in getting future productions, commissions, and recognition.