OUR THEATRES

MATHERS 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 operates an array of 35 pipe battens and electrics on spaced 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 G4 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 Regional Performing Arts Center 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.