When Claire Rice was a Masters of Fine Arts student at SF State, she once asked a professor, “How do you get a play produced?”

His answer was short and sweet. “Become a producer.”

Those words of wisdom have become a strategy that Rice and many other alumni have employed in their post-college careers – many are choosing to begin their own theater companies instead of joining established ones.

For Rice and co-founder Gabrielle Gomez, the journey of establishing their own theater company, Ann Marie Productions, began in January. According to the duo, they wanted a way to have an audience view their original works. AMP, its name based on a combination of the founders’ two middle names, was an instant way to do that. According to Gomez, the two originally met at SF State, while Rice worked in the theatre arts department and Gomez was in the Playwriting Masters Program.

“It was very rewarding, and we worked so well together,” said Rice, at her office in the theatre arts department. “[Gomez] said, ‘Hey, let’s start a theater company,’ and it was that easy.”

Currently, the company of approximately 12 members is working on its first production, “That Horrible In-Between Place.” The play began this week, but according to Rice, the company has been working on the show since August. The play centers around two women in a hospital waiting room discussing issues of love, jealousy, needs and wants as they await the outcome of a friend in surgery.

According to Rice, companies often have certain angles for the type of productions they perform. For example, one theater company called Beards, Beards, Beards, was also founded by two SF State alumni and primarily focuses on producing musicals and comedies. For AMP, the focus is to create opportunities for women to write, direct and act.

However, they do not exclude men from participating in the theater company.

“It was really the people in the company that drew me to want to be involved,” said AMP member, Nick Ishimaru in a phone interview. “It was not feminist in nature, so I did not feel as though there would be any ideological conflicts.”

According to Rice, the primary hurdle in getting the theater company off the ground has been financing their first production. The base funding for AMP came from the founders’ life savings, and the estimated cost for “That Horrible In-Between Place” came in at approximately $6,000. Rice and Gomez put in less than half, while the rest came from fundraising events, Rice said.

While she admitted that pulling the funds from her life savings did make her nervous, she said that she doesn’t feel as though it’s a risk. “I don’t feel like I’m wasting the money,” Rice said. “Why work this hard if you’re not going to put that money towards something you want? And if it serves my immediate community of friends and the community at large, all the better.”

AMP earned the remainder of its funding through events like cookie sales, movie viewings and “bar nights.”

For its bar night event, AMP held an event at San Francisco’s Elixir bar through the establishment’s Charity Guest Bartending program. The program made it possible for AMP to host an evening at the bar where people from the production company acted as bartenders, splitting proceeds with the regular staff. The evening raised approximately $350, which went directly into financing “That Horrible In-Between Place.”

Rice said that the hope for their first show is to break even with what was originally invested. However, she believes that they will in fact lose money. “But that’s not why we’re doing this,” Rice said. “We’re not expecting to make money.”

Since the company funds are low, all of AMP’s members are volunteers. Similar to another SF State alumni founded company, Guerilla Repertoire, AMP members wear interchangeable hats when it comes to dividing the work that goes into a production. According to the members, this is done so everyone has an opportunity to showcase their talents and gain experience in all elements of a production.

According to SF State alumna and AMP member, Megan O’Patry, the interchangeable roles are what makes the company a company, in the truest sense of the word. For example, in the first production, member Ishimaru will be stage manager. But in the next production, he will be acting as director.

“It’s a great way to get practical experience, so we’re not getting paid necessarily,” said O’Patry. “But the experience and connections we make creating others areas of opportunity is priceless.”

According to Ishimaru, who is also studying to earn a master’s in drama at SF State, this is the first experience any of the members besides Gomez have had in organizing a theater company.

As a group, the members said that they donate every part themselves to the company because they love the work they do. The group also expressed that many people outside of the theater industry really have no idea how hard the company has to work to create the finished product.

“There are times I come home, and I’m just freakin’ beat,” explained AMP member, Tea Toplak, resting her hand on her brow in concentration. “You’re like, ‘I don’t know why I’m putting myself through all this hard work.’ Then you go back and think, ‘I love the people, the work I’m doing, and making other people enjoy what I’m doing on stage.’ So it all comes back to that.”

“That Horrible In-Between Place” is playing at San Francisco’s El Teatro de la Esperanza. Performances run Thursday - Saturday from November 1-22. Admission is $20.