Theatre Building (TB)

Address:
200 North Riverside Drive
Iowa City, IA 52242

Parking information

Accessibility information

For more information about artwork, lactation rooms, and restrooms, visit the University of Iowa Facilities website.

Let's get together

Contact us to schedule a visit to tour our facilities, meet faculty, learn about classes, and get a feel for the creative environment the Theatre Department at Iowa offers.

The Theatre Building

Built in 1935 and renovated/expanded in 1984, the Theatre Building houses three theatres, acting and design studios, classrooms, computer facilities, dressing rooms, offices, and shops. Its beautiful glass lobby opens onto the west bank of the Iowa River and offers students a place to talk, eat, meet, and rehearse.

Theatres

interior shot of Mabie Theatre showing student actors on the stage and a student director standing among the red audience seats, which are all empty

E. C. Mabie Theatre

Mabie Theatre, the largest venue serving the Department of Theatre Arts, was built in the early 1930s as a state-of-the-art Broadway house. In the early years, many plays premiered here before transferring to New York.

A group of 4 Theatre Arts student collaborating on lighting design in Thayer Theatre

David Thayer Theatre

Thayer Theatre is a venue that is only limited by an artistic team’s collective imagination. It is a vast, flexible theatre with a 36-foot high ceiling, and adjustable seating banks for audiences from 144 to 172.

a view of the stage in MacVey Theatre from the audience's perspective. The stage and the seats are empty. On a screen onstage the words "welcome to MacVey Theatre" are projected in white on a blue background.

Alan MacVey Theatre

MacVey Theatre serves as home to student-driven productions with an emphasis on new play development. Formerly known as Theatre B, this venue features fixed seating for 138, a 24” high stage, movable black curtains, a full stage projection screen, and a standard light plot.

Studios and classrooms

Acting faculty member Paul Kalina performing in front of a green screen set in the motion capture studio

Motion Capture and Virtual Reality (MOCAP/VR) Studio

This is a laboratory for research and teaching where faculty and students can work across disciplines to create theatre for the twenty-first century. These new technologies prepare our students for professional careers in the entertainment industry of the future and support innovation in digital arts.

Circle of students around Prof. Paul Kalina in a clowning movement class taking place in Catalano acting studio

Acting studios and classrooms

The Cosmo Catalano Acting Studio is a large, beautiful space used for acting, movement, and voice classes. It also serves as an intimate theatre for readings.

The Theatre Building also houses four other spaces dedicated to educating students.

Theatre student in a Hawkeye t-shirt working at an iMac computer in a sunny computer studio

ABW 360 Sound and Media Classroom

  • 18 iMac computer workstations
    • Focusrite Clarett sound interface on each workstation
  • Full complement of digital media software including:
    • ProTools
    • QLab 4
    • Isadora
    • Adobe Creative Cloud

Shops and labs

Parking

University Parking Lot 55 is free for patrons after 4:30 p.m. on weekdays and all weekend.

A metered lot for week-day use is located on the west side of the building.

Please note that Lot 55 is also staging for free shuttle buses to UI football and basketball games. On Saturdays when performances are held at the same time as football games, the metered lot will be reserved for theatre patrons.

Accessibility

The Theatre Building is accessible to persons with disabilities. All theatres are accessible and are equipped with hearing augmentation systems. For details, call the Department of Theatre Arts at 319-335-2700.

The main entrance is accessible to persons with disabilities, and is located on the east side of the building near the river. It is reached via a ramp located at the southwest corner of the building.

Equipment

Since 2016, the Department of Theatre Arts has invested over $250,000 in professional grade equipment, including:

  • Video production equipment:
    • Cameras
    • Lighting
    • Sound
    • Grip
  • Video projection equipment:
    • Projectors
    • Screens
    • Media servers
  • Laptops with professional software installed
  • Motion capture equipment
    • Kinect sensors
    • Portable motion capture suits/systems
  • Virtual and augmented reality equipment

Other supplemental professional equipment is available to students for check-out for class projects and experiments, independent project rehearsals, developmental research, and production

This equipment is available for set-up both in classes, lab spaces, and other sites, and also in our theaters.

Questions?

Katie McClellen

Katie McClellen, MA, BA

Title/Position
Scheduling and Facilities Manager

Request Space

To reserve a rehearsal room for department productions or learn more about reviewing room schedules, visit the Theatre Arts Callboard.