The company's main stage productions are new plays and revivals of classics by Asian Pacific Islander American playwrights, directed, performed, and designed by local talent.
AATC is credited as a progenitor of the Asian-American theater movement alongside East West Players and Pan Asian Repertory Theatre.
[1] In addition to being a producing company, AATC is a workshop where Asian Pacific Islander writers, actors and directors can explore ideas and create works that carry with them the AATC's purpose, which is to explore who Asian Pacific Islander Americans are as a people and as a community.
A training program consisting of two semesters a year of courses in acting, scene study, voice and movement and playwright's workshops, conducted by professional artists is also offered.
The group also hosts staged readings, where scripts under development are directed, rehearsed and presented, followed by discussion and critique.