Sunday, July 22, 2007
Experimental Theatre is coming to Tech
Christian Trejbal
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The Virginia Tech green space at the corner of North Main Street and College Avenue, where I have enjoyed many Souvlaki gyros, will close soon. Bulldozers and builders will overrun Henderson Lawn.
Don't panic. In a year, the lawn will return in all its glory, just with a new neighbor: Tech's Experimental Theatre.
The university has been talking for a while about increasing its performance space. A small theater in the nook of Henderson Hall will provide a venue for intimate theater experiences and public outdoor performances.
The school recently stopped taking bids and will award a contract in a few weeks. Construction is slated to begin later this summer.
During the downtime, the Summer Arts Festival's concerts will move to the nearby Shultz Dining Hall lawn, where they will still be easily accessible from downtown.
Then, in November 2008 a slick, new theater will open its doors.
Large windows will frame a spacious lobby that opens onto College Avenue at Draper Road, providing a welcoming entrance for members of the university community and the general public. The front porch also will serve as a venue for street events.
Meanwhile an amphitheater in the back and room on the Henderson Lawn side will provide space for music and other shows.
"This theater will allow us to imagine a partnership with the town that we haven't been able to imagine before," said Patty Raun, chairwoman of the Department of Theatre Arts and interim director of the School of the Arts.
The real magic will be inside, though. Stagehands will be able to configure the theater in many ways, from traditional to theater-in-the-round to more avant-garde arrangements. It will seat 60 to 140 people.
The theater department has not lost sight of its educational mission, either. The department will move into a renovated Henderson Hall and the Experimental Theatre will be a laboratory for students and faculty.
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"We take our obligation as part of a research university very seriously," Raun explained. "We don't just reproduce classic plays." Instead, the department will take the "experimental" in the theater's name quite literally.
The new building will also fit with Blacksburg's environmental push. It will be the first facility Tech will register with the U.S. Green Building Council. A variety of conservation and other environmentally friendly measures will garner recognition. Most obvious will be the roof, which vegetation will cover.
The area around College and Main is shaping up to be nothing less than the performance district for the New River Valley. That might be a bit of hyperbole, but not much. What else do you call a one-block stretch that features the Lyric Theatre, Henderson Lawn's many shows and soon the Experimental Theatre?
"It just couldn't be a better location," Raun said. "We're really aware of the importance of that location to both the university and the town."
With luck, the synergy will grow. The people will come, and when they show up for shows, many will want dinner before and maybe a casual drink or ice cream after.
Experimental shows alone will not restore downtown to its former glory, but they will be a welcome addition toward critical mass.
Trejbal is an editorial writer for The Roanoke Times based in the New River Valley bureau in Christiansburg.
