Like any theatrical design, the details of your new theatre’s floor plan go through a series of iterations on the road to your new home. This month, I dug through all the plans and old e-mails we’ve exchanged internally on our new space. We’ve had nearly 13 revisions of the original design for the building. Some of them were a result of building code violations we were researching, but an equal number of revisions were just a result of an ongoing series of realizations/questions about the space usage. I have posted each of these drawings on the Theater Wit Web site, with a discussion of what elements went into each and why certain changes were made. This is an article best followed with a computer by your side, since space considerations prevent printing a dozen floor plans. All of the plans are at www.theaterwit.org/static/performink/plans.html, for your viewing pleasure.

When we identified the space location, we needed to give the architects a specifications document that detailed our requirements for the space and what needed to be fit in. For some previous prospects, I had been drawing out sketches of what I needed, but I started to worry that I was excluding too much of the architects’ expertise. Instead, I asked myself some key questions and built a list of requirements off of them:

• How many seats do we want to have?
• How many theatres?
• Do we need set construction space?
• Costume and lighting storage?
• Rehearsal space?
• Will the management office be on site or just a box office?

The answers? Two 80 to 100-seat performance spaces (one for us, one for rental), crossovers built into each space, dressing rooms, office space large enough for 5 desks, scene shop, ticket office and storage space. Rehearsal and additional storage space located on a partial second floor. This led to...

Draft #1

At this point, point your web browser to www.theaterwit.org/static/performink/plans.html

There were several things to like: I had two 100-seat spaces, with ample sound baffling between them. Crossover space was also well addressed on Stage 1. The plans offered more office space than I asked for (eight desks in two offices). Fire code exit requirements were honored in each space.

Problems: The single dressing room for each space violated Equity rules on same-sex dressing areas, so we would need to split at least one of them into two dressing rooms. A steep audience rake made the top rows of each space feel cramped against the ceiling. Access from the shop into the performance spaces was compromised by the size of the doors/hallways we were planning to install, particularly in Stage 2. I also thought the maze of corridors connecting Stage 1 with the fire exit door was too complex. Stage 1 opened directly on the lobby which I feared would cause sound-bleed problems during intermission for shows on Stage 2. Finally, while the women’s restroom met code, I thought it was a little inadequate for a theatre with 198 seats and would lead to lines. And where were the actors going to go to the bathroom?

Redraft Goals: Expand the women’s restroom and add a backstage restroom for performers. Even out the audience rake. Unfortunately, fire exit codes required that the audience not pass through the scene shop to the emergency exit, since that space wasn’t always kept clear, so the extra hallway had to stay. We could, however, make larger double doors to provide better access during load-in to Stage 2.

Draft #2

The old sightlines in Stage 1 made clean entrances very difficult without drawing in the performance space and building additional masking/crossover space. By combining the crossover with the access passage to Stage 1, we were able to keep a solid wall between the performance space and the dressing room. We also added entry vestibules for each space to reduce the noise bleed between the lobby and the house. Unfortunately, now the dressing room for Stage 1 was extremely tight, so I suggested we move the bathroom across the shop, where we already had a plumbing requirement for a slop sink. We entered into a brief debate over bathroom placement, which lead to five simultaneous drawings being submitted to me in...

Draft #3

All the submitted designs expanded Stage 1’s dressing room, and offered multiple schemes for the bathrooms. The architect favored splitting the men’s and women’s restrooms across the lobby, but I didn’t want to lose any more space in my already crowded shop. We also did some research on theatre seating and finally drafted final plans reflecting the variable width seats. I was still concerned about bathroom queues clogging the lobby, especially considering how narrow the access to Stage 2 had become. These considerations led to Drafts 4, 5 and 6. The final version, which rotated the stairwell at the expense of two desks of office space, opened up the lobby and made Stage 2 more prominent.

At this point, the plans ran up against some real world considerations. First, I had been unable to get a signed lease for parking. Under the PAV license, theatres with over 150 seats must provide one parking place for every 10 seats. While there were still several candidates for signing a parking lease, I was hesitant to commit to our own lease without having secured a secondary lease. Since I was looking at such a long lead time before we started operation, none of the nearby properties were willing to discuss a sublease of parking almost 16 months in advance. So, did I build the theatre with too many seats and trust parking would take care of itself later? I wasn’t crazy about this option, since we couldn’t get building permits until we had the parking lease attached as an addendum. Too risky for me.

Fortunately, a rental solution presented itself. We found a theatre in town who wanted to expand their performance base and provide both a studio theatre and classroom space. We started drafting plans for their review for an annual sublease that would split Stage 1 into two spaces, a classroom and 50 seat studio. After a series of back and forth plans, we ended up with our current Draft 12. We opened up the lobby to make access to both spaces a little more graceful, constructed a much cleaner vestibule for access to the Theater Wit stage, while still allowing office space and a nice studio space for the sublet. Reducing the size of the middle stage removed the exit requirement, so we could expand the shop back out and finally removing that weird exit passage. We also moved the bathroom closer to the dressing rooms. And, after forgetting the laundry for Santaland Diaries at my house for the third time, I added a washer/dryer to the shop. Lastly, I adjusted the house layouts to help the stage managers get to the booth without crossing in front of the audience, and a bar for the lobby.

So, here’s where the interior of the first floor stands today. What’s truly amazing is how much review time these plans required between each draft. I only have a few lessons from all the above, but I had to keep reminding myself about them each and every revision:

1. How do the actors/tech people move in and out of the space?
2. Where is the audience going to congregate? What should they see from each vantage point?
3. How easily can a customer find the box office and the entrance to the theatre?
4. Where can sound get between different spaces? What doors need to be open during performances? How many doors and walls separate the spaces?
5. How many places am I bring plumbing to?
6. How can I maximize space without sacrificing audience comfort in the public areas?

After much consideration, we’ve lost some office and storage space. We’ve added public space in the form of restrooms and lobby. Our stages are more practical in terms of access and flexibility. Are these plans done? Not nearly. Now we bring in the acoustic and structural engineers who are drafting the final plans and we’ll no doubt adjust them at least one more time. But don’t wait. Take a look at the plans and e-mail me with your questions/ideas. Speak up before you perform/design/direct in the space over the next few years.

Next month, we’ll break out the plans and talk about the costing process. Current construction estimate for our theatre? About $768,000. Hear about my stroke as I reviewed those numbers! Until then, check out the designs and feel free to drop me a message at jeremy@theaterwit.org

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