The Department of Theatre’s new permanent home, a wing of Johnson-McFarlane (J-Mac) residence hall designed for housing academic departments, has been very well-received by students and faculty.

“Everyone has been just thrilled,” said Tricia Stevens, theater production office manager in the department.

Most of the department’s faculty offices, classrooms, administrative facilities and performance spaces are now housed in the wing. The department was previously in Margery Reed Hall, west of the Daniels College of Business.

In addition to the J-Mac wing, some theater classes and performances are also held in the Newman Center for the Performing Arts.

Senior Weston Meredith, theatre ensemble president, is very excited about the fresh start and future possibilities the new facilities offer.

“With Margery Reed Hall having been our home for so many years, it is inevitably a little bitter sweet to move. However, for me personally, I couldn’t be more excited,” he said.

The wing is equipped with classrooms, a computer lab, new theater equipment, a scene shop, dressing rooms and two new performances spaces, a white box theater and a black box theater.

The new black and white spaces are a huge improvement over the ones in Margery Reed, said Meredith.

The new lights, technical boards and audience space in the theaters will really benefit the senior projects this year, he said.

The department’s new winghas been used to house several departments in the past, but most recently was home to the Morgridge College of Education.

The agreement was made for the department of theatre to move into the wing a long time ago, said Stevens.

The department is still working to get everything up to speed after moving out of Margery Reed Hall in the span of a couple weeks, but is very glad to have the new space, said Meredith.

“We have a completely fresh start, a great location in terms of spreading the word about all our work to a brand new class of freshman, and the drive to transform this department into something the university will grow to covet,” he said.

The Department of Theatre will be performing more than 20 shows this academic year.