Mission

California Stage is a non-profit partnered theater company dedicated to encouraging arts created by Californian artists. It reflects a California state of mind when it chooses its work.  Our seasons are supported by Theater Creations Unlimited.

Our vision informs our choices through our literary, social activist and multicultural points of view. We believe that our work sets us apart from most other local theaters, in that we strive to “present high quality work that explores issues of importance to Californians.” If we do a revival, it must have topical significance and or present an artistic challenge to our artists.

History

Since the year 2000, under the direction of Ray Tatar (MA 1970 Directing, UC Berkeley) our small company has produced 85 plays and some musicals, dozens of staged readings, and school tours. We have added two new theater spaces which now serve a resident coalition of four other theater companies, providing a thriving theater center for our city.

Founders

Ray Tatar has been with the California Arts Council for 21 years. He is the manager of the Organizational Grants Program and has special expertise in theater. He is the founding Director of the Los Angeles Theater Alliance, The Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance, and the Sacramento Theater League.

Ray holds an MA in Directing from UC Berkeley, was a founding member of The Magic Theater, and currently is the Artistic Director of California Stage. He has won many awards for theater directing and recently won a national CINE Golden Eagle award for a PBS documentary.

In the early 1990s, Ray produced State of the Arts, a Cable television series that played in 26 cable markets for two years and won an International Broadcast Design Award. He was a drama critic for KPFK-FM in Los Angeles for five years.

Susan Pikowsky Tatar works in video production and runs the box office for the California Stage.