Theatre Building (TB)
Address:
200 North Riverside Drive
Iowa City, IA 52242
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
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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, MA, BA
Request Space
To reserve a rehearsal room for department productions or learn more about reviewing room schedules, visit the Theatre Arts Callboard.