Facilities

Mather's Theatre

Mathers Theatre, located on the main floor of the Holland Union Building and home to the Mermaid Players for over thirty years, is a 240 seat proscenium stage with a trapped apron and stage access from the auditorium by means of stairs and runways on each side of the house. The proscenium opening is adjustable from a minimum width of 24'-0" to a maximum of 40'-0" with a minimum height of 13'0" to a maximum of 25'-0".

A conventional counterweight rigging system operating an array of 35 pipe battens and electrics on 6" centers over the stage. Lighting positions are distributed throughout the theatre in a dimmer per circuit configuration. At present the theatre is equipped with 119 dimmable load circuits with plans in the works to expand that number to 192. Control is by an ETC 'Expression' memory console. Sound production and playback is accomplished either by conventional stereo sources or by an eight-channel surround system driven by a Mac OS running ProTools through a Tascam audio interface. Sound and light control and stage management are located on a control deck at the rear of the auditorium. Scene shops, dressing rooms, production offices, properties and equipment storage and the green room/players lounge are all located beyond the stage left wings.

The Cubiculo

The Cubiculo, our 'black-box' theatre , is located above the Carlisle Theatre which is two blocks from campus on High Street in downtown Carlisle. "The Cube" as it is known to students, is a flexible studio theatre space in which we teach acting classes and produce a variety of smaller-scaled theatrical productions. The word Cubiculo, from the Latin 'cubiculum' meaning small room, is perported to have been a tavern in the neighborhood of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre and is referenced in his comedy Twefth Night, act III scene ii.

The theatre is fully equipped with lighting and sound equipment, dressing rooms, and other support space. Its moveable seating has been arranged to accommodate arena, thrust, modified thrust, alley, and traditional proscenium-type stage arrangements. Freshman Plays are presented each Fall in the Cubiculo, as are a wide variety of student directed "lab shows" in the spring. Adjacent to the theatre space is a second dance studio, which is used for a variety of theatrical and choreographic rehearsals, as well as a spacious conference room, which is used as a classroom and a reserve rehearsal room when multiple productions are in rehearsal.

Montgomery House

Montgomery House Conference Room

Montgomery House Lobby

Montgomery House Costume Shop

Montgomery House Costume Storage Closet

Montgomery House Design Lab

Montgomery House is the administrative "home" of the Department of Theatre and Dance. This stately period structure, located directly between Mathers Theatre and the Anita Tuvin Schlecter auditorium, was completely renovated for our department's use in the summer of 2003. The main level houses offices for departmental faculty adjoining a common reception area which includes our departments "nerve center": the desk of Academic Department Coordinator; Jenny Rhoads. Also on the first level is a comfortable conference/reading room where students can stay current on trade newspapers, magazines, books and job listings. This room also includes a well stocked "browsing library" consisting of hundreds of plays and dance videos.

On the second level of Montgomery is our spcious new costume shop, which features upgraded workstations allowing large group crew calls and an on-site costume starage facility.

Sharing the second level is our design lab, which allows group design work and classes for up to 15 students in stage, costume, lighting, and sound design. The lab is equipped with a workstation for eight-channel digital audio, computer graphics, and computer assisted design. New this year is the installation of lighting system which can be used for learning basic lighting techniques as well as supporting other courses in the design and technical theatre curriculum.

On the lower level, montgomery houses a specialized shop for properties fabrication, as well as secure storage for specialized or properties and materials. Other spaces utilized by the department and its programs include our dance studio on the lower level of the Holland Union Building, which is the home for many dance classes as well as the weekly Dance Theatre group company class.