Virginia Tech® home

Studio Theatre

Location: 290 College Ave.

Studio Theatre located on the second floor of the Squires Student Center.

It is a three-quarter thrust/modified proscenium space designed by theatre professor Randy Ward. Seating capacity is  205, with the ability to add an additional nine seats.

The stage incorporates a trap below and hidden vomitoria surrounding it, providing flexible actor access around the stage area. A dismountable second level balcony is readily available for additional performance space.

Wheelchair seating is located in the rear of the house. The theatre is also equipped with a wireless assistive listening device system. 

 

  • The Studio Theatre has a high circuit density lighting catwalk at 30' above stage level.
  • There is a trap room 9' below stage level with a utility flooring system.
  • Above the lighting catwalk there is a 4' square matrix of rigging points for chain hoist suspension of overhead scenic elements.
  • A large control room overlooks the theatre and provides for all control functions.
  • Lighting control distribution is dimmer per circuit (325 dimmers/circuits).
  • Available consoles include ETC EOS and ETC ION. Lighting fixture inventory includes 400+ focusing units including ETC Source Four (various focal lengths), Arri Fresnels, Altman 360Q (various focal lengths), Altman PAR 64, L&E Cyc Lights, Altman Mini-Strips & Desisti HMI Fresnels.
  • Movers include (2) ETC Revolutions and (4) VL 4000 Spot Luminaires.
  • Projection equipment includes Pani BP-2 Incandescant (2) and Pani BP-1.2 HMI large format scenic projectors (2), Sanyo and Mitsubishi high-contrast video projectors (5) and (3) Christie 10K DLP Projectors. DMX controlled dousers and WATCHOUT Version 5 Presentation software with dedicated Shuttle computers.
  • Velour masking, sky drops, scrims, and sky sized black and white RP screens are available stock.
  • Tunnels connect from either side of the stage to a center vomitorium that can be converted to seating when not used in production.
  • There are side house galleries that are used for performance that can connect to a system of dismountable galleries that can wrap around the entire stage at 12 feet above stage level. These galleries can be used as an entire unit or in individual sections.
  • Sound support is via booth racks containing distribution, equalization and effects processing with Crown amplifiers.
  • Sound mix is via an Allen & Heath Saber 32x8 mixing console. Playback is available in any traditional medium, or as digital data from computer.
  • Speakers include options by JBL and Klipsch. Sound editing utilizes Digidesign hardware, ProTools 7.3 LE, and QLab run on Apple computers.
  • Automation equipment includes an extensive collection of hydraulic and pneumatic equipment, DC motors with chain stages, Arduinos and microcontrollers, a Creative Connors Revolver motor kit, and a Creative Connors Pushstick V2 scenery moving kit. In addition there is a small devoted Electro-Mechanical Laboratory for building and repairing equipment.