The Pear Theatre

What The Pear Theatre does

The Pear Theatre is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional theatre company founded in 2002 and based in a single venue at 1110 La Avenida in Mountain View, California, serving the South Bay / San Francisco Bay Area. It produces a season of mainstage full-length productions spanning classics, contemporary plays, and world premieres, supplemented by an annual short-play festival (Pear Slices, now in its 24th season), a developmental reading series (Fresh Produce), a writers' group (Pear Playwrights' Guild), and a youth education program (Pear Seeds, launched 2018). The organization operates with approximately six core staff plus a nine-member board of directors, and runs a stated 60% diverse-artist hiring commitment.

The core technology and product surface is traditional live stagecraft: theatrical productions performed in an intimate in-house configuration, marketed through the theatre's own website, an email newsletter, Instagram, and a third-party ticketing platform (vbotickets.com). The theatre has produced over 120 full-length productions and 100+ short plays since founding. Distribution is direct-to-consumer via its own website box office and on-site box office; no third-party resellers or distribution partners are used.

The business model is a hybrid nonprofit arts revenue stack: one-time individual ticket purchases, recurring annual season subscriptions, individual donations solicited via a dedicated support page, and grants (not specifically identified in the input). Pricing is not publicly disclosed on the website. Customer segments are predominantly local Bay Area theatre-goers, with secondary segments of Bay Area playwrights and youth/students reached through Pear Seeds and student ticket programs.

Name

The Pear Theatre

Legal name

The Pear Theatre

Website

https://www.thepear.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Pear Theatre is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit professional theatre in Mountain View, California, producing mainstage plays, an annual short-play festival, and youth education programs for South Bay audiences, playwrights, and students.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Live Theater Performances

NAICS

Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (711110), Performing Arts Companies (7111)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Theater, Musicals & Performing Arts (THAJAFAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Fringe & Experimental Performing Arts (MPAGABAI), Performing Arts Camps (Theater, Musical Theater, Dance) (EDAMALAI)

Keywords

• Live theater productions
• Play development programs
• Youth theater education
• Theatrical season subscriptions
• Community performing arts

Headquarters

HQ city

Mountain View

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Ticket Sales: Individual ticket purchases for performances through the Pear's box office system (vbotickets.com). Currently offering productions like Pear Slices and God of Carnage.
2. Season Subscriptions: Season subscription packages for Season 25 (Season 58), offering subscribers access to all productions with potential discounts and priority access.
3. Donations: Individual donations from patrons and supporters, with explicit call to action on website for community support.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Pear Theatre produces and presents live theatrical performances at its single intimate Mountain View venue, including mainstage full-length plays (classics, contemporary works, and world premieres), the annual Pear Slices short-play festival, Fresh Produce new-play readings, the Pear Playwrights' Guild development program, and the Pear Seeds youth playwriting education initiative. It sells individual tickets, season subscriptions, and accepts charitable donations to fund programming.

Product overview

The Pear Theatre is a professional theatre company in Mountain View, California, founded in 2002. It operates a single-venue model offering a portfolio of interconnected theatrical programs: Mainstage Productions (full-length plays including classics, contemporary works, and world premieres), Pear Slices (the annual short play festival in its 24th season featuring works by Guild members), the Pear Playwrights' Guild (a playwright development group whose members' works feed into Pear Slices and Fresh Produce), Fresh Produce (new play developmental readings), and Pear Seeds (youth education program). The company also sells Season Subscriptions and individual tickets through its box office. The theatre is dedicated to diverse voices and inclusive programming, with a stated commitment to hiring 60% of artists from diverse backgrounds.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mainstage Productions Full-length theatrical productions including classics, contemporary plays, and world premiere new works performed on The Pear's main stage, intended for Bay Area adult theater audiences.
• Pear Slices Annual festival of short plays written by members of the Pear Playwrights Guild, running for a limited engagement each summer; now in its 24th season with eight new works per festival.
• Season Subscriptions Multi-show ticket packages for the full season (e.g., Season 25), offering subscribers discounted access to all mainstage and festival productions.
• Pear Seeds Youth playwriting education program offering classes and conservatory-style mentorship where young people produce their own new plays under the guidance of professional theatre artists.
• Pear Playwrights' Guild Writers' group of Bay Area playwrights affiliated with The Pear Theatre that meets online every two weeks to develop works, which are then performed in Pear Slices, Fresh Produce readings, and occasionally on the mainstage.
• Fresh Produce Annual new play reading program that develops and showcases emerging works from playwrights, co-produced by Pear Playwrights Guild members as part of the company's new-play development pipeline.

Quantifiable outcome

• Produced over 120 full-length productions and 100+ short plays since founding in 2002
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• The Breath ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Co-production partnership with The Breath Project for The Black Experience Festival in Season 23. The Breath Project is an initiative focused on producing and amplifying works by Black theatre artists.
• AASCEND (Autism Asperger Spectrum Coalition for Education, Networking and Development)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership providing discount codes for members of AASCEND to attend performances, specifically for Curious Incident production. Example of outreach to diverse community groups representing audiences with disabilities.
• Perspective Theatre CompanyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-production relationship for The Path Back to Me production during Season 19, which included Becoming Othello by Debra Ann Byrd and Full Fathom Five by Annamarie MacLeod. Filmed live and shared digitally.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• TheatreWorks Silicon Valley: Major professional regional theater serving Silicon Valley with a much larger budget and multiple venues. Directly comparable as a Bay Area theater producing mainstage seasons and new works, though operating at significantly larger scale.
• San Jose Stage Company: Professional regional theater in downtown San Jose producing a mix of classics, contemporary plays, and premieres. Comparable as a Bay Area community theater with similar programming philosophy but serving a different sub-market.

Direct peers

• City Lights Theater Company: Intimate professional theater in Sunnyvale, CA serving the South Bay with mainstage productions and new works development. Closest direct peer given shared geography, venue size, and community-focused mission.
• Palo Alto Players: Long-running community theater in Palo Alto producing a mainstage season with classics, contemporary plays, and new works. Directly comparable in scale, programming model, and Bay Area Peninsula service area.
• Hillbarn Theatre: Community theater in Foster City producing a full season of plays and musicals. Comparable in scale and Bay Area Peninsula footprint, with similar mix of classics and contemporary productions.
• Aurora Theatre Company: Berkeley-based professional theater producing new works and classics in an intimate venue setting. Comparable as a smaller East Bay theater with strong new-play development focus, similar in mission and programming mix to the Pear.
• Center Repertory Company: East Bay regional theater in Walnut Creek producing classics, contemporary plays, and new works in an intimate venue. Comparable in scale, programming philosophy, and community-engaged mission.
• Magic Theatre: San Francisco theater focused on developing and producing bold new works. Comparable as a smaller Bay Area theater with strong new-play development mission similar to the Pear's Pear Slices and Pear Playwrights' Guild programs.

Broad incumbents

• Berkeley Repertory Theatre: Major LORT professional theater in Berkeley with multiple venues and significant new works programming. Comparable as a Bay Area theater investing in new play development, though at substantially larger scale and budget.
• American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.): Major San Francisco theater company with both classical and new works programming plus conservatory education. Comparable as a Bay Area theater combining productions with education programs (e.g., Pear Seeds), though operating at vastly greater scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/peartheatre

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Pear Theatre