Department Facilities
The Department of Theatre Arts is housed in the Fine Arts complex, conveniently located on Howard University's main campus in the District of Columbia. The Ira Aldridge Theater and Environmental Theatre Space are both used for teaching and performances.
The demand for the use of the Department of Theatre Arts' performance spaces necessitates the adoption of daily and hourly scheduling of the facilities for the entire academic year, August through May. Priority will be assigned to departments and programs normally involved in the use of these facilities to include Student Life/Activities groups, Colleges and Programs of the University, and University Administration.
The facilities will also be made available to those organizations on an individual program rental and very limited basis for purposes that are compatible with, or enhance the mission of the University and in the interest of the community.
The Ira Aldridge Theater serves as the home and main performance space for the Department of Theatre Arts and consists of an intimate house with proscenium stage, counterweight system, lighting and sound control areas, and dressing rooms. The theater seats 300 people.
The secondary performance area of the Department of Theatre Arts is the 60-seat Environmental Theatre Space (ETS). Additional support facilities include: a scene shop, costume shop, dance studio, and rehearsal areas. These areas serve as the primary laboratories for the Department of Theatre.
Our Dance Arts Studio is best reserved to hold auditions and workshops for your arts- related performances and educational experiences.
Usage Fees
(These charges apply to all Theatre spaces. Current rate is quoted, but subject to change without notice)
Technical Director:$33.00 per hour for the first 7 hours on any given day
Time-and-a-half before 9 a.m. and any hours in excess of seven in a given day
Double time for any part of an hour after midnight
House Electrician:$33.00 per hour for the first 7 hours on any given day
Time-and-a-half before 9 a.m. and any hours in excess of seven in a given day
Double time for any part of an hour after midnight
Event/ Operations/ Production Manager:$28-$33 per hour if necessitated due to production values
Stage Manager:$28 per hour if necessitated due to production values
Sound Engineer:$28.00 per hour for the first 7 hours on any given day
Time-and-a-half before 9 a.m. and any hours in excess of seven in a given day
Double time for any part of an hour after midnight
House Manager:$28.00 per hour (4-hour minimum)
Technicians:$18.00 per hour for the first 7 hours on any given day
Time-and-a-half before 9 a.m. and any hours in excess of seven in a given day
Double time for any part of an hour after midnight
Ushers: $10.00 per hour (4-hour minimum)
Box Office:Ticket printing surcharge/all organizations $.25 per ticket; $1.00 facility preservation fee; 3 - 5% credit card/web sale processing; $10.00 per hour for box office staff
Box Office Manager: $15.00 per hour (4-hour minimum)
Housekeeping: If required, $450 per day, or as quoted by the PFM, Environmental Services Department.
Security: As quoted (unarmed)
About Ira Aldridge
It is appropriate that the theatre of Howard University, the "capstone of Negro education," be named after Ira Aldridge (1807-1867), hailed as the "African Roscius" and a "capstone" in the annals of Theatre and Dramatic history.
Aldridge was educated at the African Free School, established in New York in 1787. Although Aldridge's father intended that his son concentrate his talents towards religious pursuits, Ira preferred the magic and gratification of the stage.
Aldridge's acting and producing career, formally launched while still in his late teens, took him all over the continent and Russia, and spanned an awesome period of over forty years. His first major performance abroad was at the Coburg Theatre in London in 1825. Within a few years, Aldridge, the "African Roscius," was obviously destined for success and was never again billed as "American."
In addition to acting on the professional European stage, Aldridge sought to educate all levels of society with his one man program which he called "Grant Classic and Dramatic Entertainment." In such programs, the "African Roscius" lectured on Drama and performed excerpts from plays in his repertoire.
Aldridge's style of interpretation, performance and production was highly realistic. On the stage, as well as in his private life, he constantly sought to communicate racial equality.
During his long and diverse career, Chevalier Aldridge, Knight of Saxony, was honored and decorated by the governments of Haiti, Russia, Poland, Prussia and Hungary.
Ira Aldridge died in Lodz, Poland on August 7, 1867.*
*For a detailed account of Aldridge's career consult: Herbert Marshall and Mildred Stock, Ira Aldridge: The Negro Tragedian, (Carbondale, Illinois: Southern University Press, 1968).