Precipice Theatre was founded in 1985 by Colin Funk & Connie Brill in Vancouver, B.C. under the name of The Happy Trails Theatre Collective as an eco-theatre troupe committed to "Acting to make a Difference in our Environment." The group was formed out of an urgent need for new and creative approaches to environmental education. A key to this approach was in developing plays that interpreted scientific data for the public in an entertaining format. The company workshopped and performed two original plays at the Vancouver Little Theatre; Walk of Life, a fundraising event for the Stein Alliance and Miss Tannenbaum, a performance highlighting the Western Canada Wilderness Committee's South Moresby campaign.

With a change of location to Banff, Alberta in 1987 came a change of name to "Precipice Theatre". The organization was incorporated as a not-for-profit theatre society in February of 1989. With a new home base now established in Banff, the group began to refine its earlier method of developing plays. In 1989 the tradition of writing a play for Environment Week had begun. Environment Week provided an excellent catalyst for creating and showcasing new works. The resulting process has now seen Precipice through eleven years of producing plays.

The Precipice process starts each fall with an ten-week workshop where members of the Banff community and the society's production group collect information and undertake research with an environmental organization. The end result is a script outline, production plans and a performance itinerary. In the winter the group reconvenes using the collected material in weekly improvisation/enactment sessions transforming the research into a script.

The object of all Precipice productions is to reach as broad an audience as possible. To achieve this Precipice plays are immersed in popular culture and contemporary folklore. Audience members of all ages can identify with the humorous and larger than life characters. Such a non-threatening approach to promoting environmental education has proven to be an excellent format for communicating scientific concepts and controversial issues. The plays are often performed outside and in unconventional spaces such as grass fields, pools and campgrounds, to reinforce the human connection with the natural environment.

As well as creating and performing new works, the group conducts workshops and shares material and expertise with other groups interested in developing similar productions. Through this range of activities,Precipice Theatre opens doors for audience members so they may personally take action on environmental issues. Since 1990, schools and non-profit groups in Canada and the USA have requested scripts for productions to help with raising awareness of local environmental issues.

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