The play might be the thing, but the Theater Studies Studio will be the place.
The Theater Studies Department will soon unveil its new building--complete with rehearsal space, classrooms and a costume shop--adjacent to the Bryan Center. The completed building is expected to open Sept. 8.
"It's been a four or five-year process [preparing the Studio], between raising money and eventually getting set up," said theater studies professor John Clum. "We're looking to use it right away; a lot of classes that are currently in the Schaefer Theater or in other classrooms are scheduled to be meeting in there as soon as it opens."
The Studio is designed to move many technical aspects of campus theatrical productions into a more suitable space. The current setup features much of the production taking place in the warren of offices located between the black-box Schaefer Theater and the larger Reynolds Theater in the Bryan Center.
"[The Studio] will address numerous qualms," said Rob Painter, vice president of the Duke Players, the department's student theatrical group. "It will give the theater studies department room to grow, quite literally; there will be opportunity for more and more highly-tuned productions."
One of the most anticipated benefits of the new facility will be the Studio's new costume shop. The current, smaller costume shop in the Bryan Center has long been a space and efficiency concern for theater studies insiders. The new costume shop will afford current Costume Shop Coordinator Kay Webb "a full complement of resources," Painter said.
"We've had a great need for a costume shop for awhile," Clum said. "The old shop was very inadequate."
Another notable facet of the Studio will be a space solely dedicated to rehearsals, larger than any other rehearsal space currently in use at Duke. It will allow more useful rehearsals for any shows slated for either the Schaefer or Reynolds theaters because of their similar stage sizes.
In addition to department classes, the Studio is also designed to relieve the extra-curricular burden currently borne by other theater studies facilities--Schaefer and East Campus' Branson Theater. The increased rehearsal space will be a valued improvement for many student theatrical groups, such as Duke Players, Hoof 'n' Horn, and Brown and Green, who have rehearsed primarily in these less than ideal theatrical facilities.
"The Branson Theater, while a staple for theatrical productions, is somewhat antiquated," Painter said.
Although the Studio will open its doors in early September, its formal opening will coincide with the premiere of the Duke Players' production of "Love's Labors Lost" Oct. 24.
"The Theater Studies Studio alleviates some concerns," Clum said. "We've got a lot of other facilities needs, but this will be a big improvement."
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