After being out of house since January to make room for extensive renovations, Round House Theatre in Bethesda, Md., has unveiled its new space just in time for its exciting 2019-2020 season, and it is spectacular.
The 400-seat theater has been closed since the beginning of the year to make way for improved acoustics and performance flexibility and is scheduled to be ready for the opening night of Jocelyn Bioh’s play Schoolgirls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play on Sept. 18, 2019.
“The original impetus for the project was a goal of improving the acoustics in our theater,” says Ed Zakreski, Round House’s managing director. “It has been something we have had to fight against in just about every production we’ve done. We’ve done it fairly successfully, so I don’t think it appeared to be as deficient as it actually was, but it definitely affected the type of shows we were able to present.”
For instance, a two-hander probably wasn’t going to work.
“The total volume of the interior of the theater space we could have fit Arena’s Kreeger Theatre inside, to give an idea of the scope,” Zakreski says. “As we looked into the acoustics, it became really clear that this was not a simple fix of hanging some reflective panels here or changing a wall there. We knew it would have to be a significant change to the inside of the theater.”
As one enters the theater, there is a small room called the sound & light lock, something that a lot of theaters have, which prevents light from entering the theater if someone comes in late or has to leave the theater for an emergency.
“The space is designed so the ambient background noise will be around 30 decibels, which is about what a professional recording studio is.” Zakreski says. “In our previous theater, there were parts that had around 60 decibels so we are truly creating a theater significantly improved with acoustics.”
Originally, Round House utilized a three-sided stage, with just a portion of the seats directly focused on the performance. The new setup offers a curved design circled by an arc of seating, so all audience members are drawn to the action. That will make it easier for directors to work.
“We have brought the back of the theater in by about 12 feet and have brought the side walls in a little bit, and every seat is on average five-feet closer to the stage than it was,” Zakreski says. “The front row is almost four feet closer to the stage, and the farthest seat from the stage is now eight-feet closer than in the previous theater.”
The interior of the theater is now lined with brick and wood, which gives it a warmer feel and also helps with the acoustics.
At the same time, the Round House executive team looked at its lobby, which was built back in the late ’90s, and saw a very sterile, passed-through vibe. Considering it was built by the same company that built Chevy Chase Bank, it wasn’t surprising that it sort of felt like a bank’s lobby, down to the point that it had bulletproof glass windows in the box office.
“Theatergoing has changed a lot in the 20 years since it was designed, and now that we’re competing a lot more with outside entertainment options and also the ‘cocooning’ phenomenon of people staying home and watching Netflix. People are looking for theater to be more of an experience now,” Zakreski says. “Part of our mission is to do shows that demand conversation and we wanted to provide a place for that conversation to occur.”
That meant activating the lobby. Even though it had this beautiful 30-foot high lobby, only about the bottom six-and-a-half feet were ever used. The upstairs space was only accessible by elevator. That was another thing they knew needed to be changed.
The lobby was expanded with a featured staircase on the south side to take people up to an expanded second floor where people can sit and see the activity on the downstairs lobby.
“Now when patrons come in the front door, they will be greeted by a box office where you can talk face-to-face to our staff with no glass in between,” Zakreski says. “We’ve opened up the floor plan so when you walk in, you can see all the way to where the theater entrance is. We’ve significantly expanded our small concessions operation into a full bar where we will be serving light fare food as well that will be opened both before and after the show.”
There is also a lot more seating with sofas, chairs, bar stools and high-tops available to make patrons more comfortable.
“This was a really important project for us. We are in the midst of commissioning 30 new plays for the American Theater from exclusively women playwrights and playwrights of color,” Zakreski says. “We wanted to have a stage to accommodate whatever a playwright dreamed up.”
And to foster the friendships and conversations sure to follow.
School Girls: or, The African Mean Girls Play begins performances September 18, 2019.
Details and tickets.
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