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Theatrical Outfit, Atlanta's third oldest professional theater company, was established in 1976 by a company of actors in a converted laundromat in the Virginia Highland district. During the company's history, other venues have included a former Kress Store at the site of the current Federal Reserve Bank on Peachtree, the 14th Street Playhouse and The Rialto Center for the Arts at Georgia State University. The result of a $5.4 million capital campaign and a complete renovation of the space, it is the country's first green theater, having attained silver certification for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design ( LEED ) from the U.S. Green Building Council. Theatrical Outfit's mission is to entertain, educate and enliven a major audience by producing classic and contemporary theater with an emphasis on work indigenous to the culture of American South. We are dedicated to Atlanta-based artists of national caliber. Our emphasis focuses on the work of Southern writers and composers to tell the stories we know best. The themes of spirituality and racial understanding are particularly resonant in our culture, and we are committed to giving them dramatic voice in the heart of downtown Atlanta. In December 2004 Theatrical Outfit moved into its own home at 84 Luckie Street, The Balzer Theater at Herren's. Named for the lead donors, Bill and Peg Balzer, and the historic building that it occupies, Theatrical Outfit's new home is an intimate, state-of-the-art 200-seat theater, designed for, owned and managed by the company. Theatrical Outfit is a professional, not-for-profit organization, which operates as a SPT-8 ( Small Professional Theater ) under Actor's Equity Association, the union of actors and stage managers in America. Theatrical Outfit is a member of or participates in Theatre Communications Group, the Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts, The Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau's Arts Marketing Initiative, Central Atlanta Progress, and the Metro Atlanta Arts and Cultural Coalition. Major funding is received from Fulton County Commission through Fulton County Arts Council, the City of Atlanta Bureau of Cultural Affairs, the Georgia General Assembly through the Georgia Council for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Special Program support is provided by the Metropolitan Atlanta Arts Fund ( MAAF ).