About

Animal Fire Theatre, founded by Austen Anderson, is a young company located in the South Puget Sound. The Olympia parks serve as both rehearsal hall and stage. We like to stage classical plays in rough, energetic, and modern ways. Our mission: to explore the breadth of human instinct and impulse, to come to a better understanding of our own nature, and to share these experiences with our community.

The 'Animals' Method

AFT members employ a number of non-traditional rehearsal methods to heighten their physical and emotional awareness, including an exercise where each actor embodies, portrays, and interacts with the other actors as an animal in order to connect to their character's motivations. This wild method of rehearsal often brings in spectators from all around the park who are curious as to the strange growls, howls, barks, grunts, and roars they hear from our rehearsal meadow.