Boston University committed $50 million to the College of Fine Arts for the creation of a new theater and facility improvements, University Provost Jean Morrison said. The new theater will be built on the Charles River Campus to replace the BU Theatre on Huntington Avenue after BU ended its relationship with the Huntington Theatre Company October 2015, Morrison added.
CFA students will be able to perform the same work in the theater on the Charles River Campus as they had in the Huntington Theatre, Morrison said.
“This moves the work that the students are doing from the theatre on Huntington Avenue, which is a distance from the university, [to the new theatre],” she said. “It allows our students to be based at the College of Fine Arts on the Charles River Campus, and it brings our students back to campus.”
Construction of the planned “black box theater” will allow a variety of productions and design facilities “where students in theater can do scenery and costumes and the technical aspects associated with theater production,” Morrison said.
“We will restore the big glass windows that were bricked in because the front of the building is completely closed and not very inviting,” she said.
Clay Hopper, a lecturer in CFA’s School of Theatre said reconstruction focuses on better merging the school’s program due to theater proximity.
“This is about changing the culture at the School of Theatre in a good way,” he said. “The School of Theatre has wanted its performance core facilities at 855 Commonwealth Ave. to be closer together so there is more of a synergy between the two disciplines that have to do with theater.”
Hopper added that the new theater’s presence could attract students from all over the Charles River Campus to engage in CFA productions and meld arts into the BU experience on campus.
“Most of the large productions the School of Theatre or the Opera Institute do are across town and are on the periphery of the Charles River Campus life,” he said. “This move puts it right in the center and makes a pretty strong statement that the arts at BU are for everybody.”
Construction of a new theater would also improve relationships among CFA students, improve the work they produce and unify “culture at the school and break down barriers between technical production and performance,” Hopper said.
The new theater would ease the strain on faculty and students who previously had to move between campus and the theater on Huntington, Hopper said. Getting materials from one place to another had been “difficult.”
Several students said they look forward to seeing the positive impact the funding will bring to support and unify the theater program and student life on the Charles River Campus.
Tori Coughlin, a sophomore in the School of Education, said the new theater on campus will make it more accessible for students in the theater program and others.
“I was always confused why the BU Theatre was at Northeastern,” she said. “If the theater is closer, that will probably feel more personal for the people who work on shows and easier for other students to participate in theater events.”
Zoe Sisson-Silberblatt, a senior in CFA, said students in different theater programs will then be able to collaborate easily once they work closer to each other.
“It’s great to move the design and production classes closer geographically to the performance major classes,” she said. “We spend so much time together during projects, but it’s hard to cultivate relationships when we are separated by miles.”
Hayley Spivey, a senior studying theatre arts in CFA, said though the Huntington had provided opportunities and resources for students, hopefully construction of a new theater will help forge a community around the theatre program.
“It’s sad to see our relationship with the Huntington Theatre end,” she said, “but I’m happy to see so much money be put in CFA. I know that a lot of us had been feeling neglected.”
Sophia Eppolito contributed to the reporting of this article.
