The Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies is housed in the Catherine Bryan Dill Center for the Performing Arts on the main campus at Brown. The center consists of multiple performance venues as well as teaching space and faculty offices. See below for more details.
Click here for a Google map locating the center, based in Lyman Hall.
Parking
Free parking is available on many of the streets around campus. Please note that a valid parking permit is required at all times to park in any Brown University parking lot. There is no open campus parking after 5pm or on weekends, holidays, etc. Parking policies are strictly enforced. Those who park at Brown do so at their own risk and are subject to the University’s Parking Rules and Regulations.
Directions to the Catherine Bryan Dill Center for the Performing Arts:
From the East
Follow I-195 West, exit at South Main Street (exit 2) and proceed North to the traffic light at College Street (large courthouse at corner). Turn right on College Street. Go to the top of the hill where College Street terminates at Prospect Street, in front of Brown University’s Van Wickle Gates. Turn left on Prospect Street, travel one block and then turn right onto Waterman Street. Begin looking for a place to park. After one block, Brown Street will intersect Waterman on your left and 50 yards further the Catherine Bryan Dill Center for the Performing Arts will be on your right.
Google Map – From Provincetown, MA
From the West, North, and South
Follow I-95 to I-195 East, exit at Downtown Providence (exit 1), and follow the exit ramp along the river. At the second light (College Street), turn right. Go to the top of the hill where College Street terminates at Prospect Street, in front of Brown University’s Van Wickle Gates. Turn left on Prospect Street, travel one block and then turn right onto Waterman Street. Begin looking for a place to park. After one block, Brown Street will intersect Waterman on your left and 50 yards further the Catherine Bryan Dill Center for the Performing Arts will be on your right. The address is 83 Waterman Street.
Google Map – from Logan Airport, Boston, MA
Google Map – from Broadway & 42nd, NY, NY
From the Northwest
Follow Route 146 South into Providence and onto I-95 South then immediately onto I-195 East. Exit at Downtown Providence (exit 1), and follow the exit ramp along the river. At the second light (College Street), turn right. Go to the top of the hill where College Street terminates at Prospect Street, in front of Brown University’s Van Wickle Gates. Turn left on Prospect Street, travel one block and then turn right onto Waterman Street. Begin looking for a place to park. After one block, Brown Street will intersect Waterman on your left and 50 yards further the Catherine Bryan Dill Center for the Performing Arts will be on your right. The address is 83 Waterman Street.
Google Map – from Albany, NY
LYMAN HALL
83 Waterman Street
Providence, RI 02912
Lyman Hall is the heart of the department. It was originally built to house Brown University’s first gymnasium. It was renovated in the 1970s as part of an effort to expand the performing arts at Brown with new facilities including Leeds Theatre, Becker Library, Ashamu Dance Studio as well as office space, dressing rooms, rehearsal spaces and classrooms. The building was renovated again in 2008. The main entrance to Lyman Hall is on Ruth J. Simmons Quad on the main campus at Brown.
ASHAMU DANCE STUDIO
83 Waterman Street
Providence, RI 02912
Ashamu Dance Studio is attached to the east end of Lyman Hall just down the hill from Leeds Theatre, on Ruth J. Simmons Quad. It is easily located sitting behind Urs Fischer’s Untitled (Lamp/Bear) (aka the big blue bear). The studio has an accessible entrance that faces Ruth J. Simmons Quad with a walkway that wraps around the building, traveling behind it towards Waterman Street. The studio holds fixed seating for 65 and can accommodate up to 100 audience members for our regular dance concerts held in this space.
LEEDS THEATRE
83 Waterman Street
Providence, RI 02912
Leeds Theatre is one of the two main theatre spaces in the department. It is located in Lyman Hall. The entrance lobby is located in the covered breezeway between Lyman and Solomon Halls on the main campus at Brown, and has two entrances. One doorway opens onto Simmons Quad across from the Marcus Aurelius statue. The other entrance opens onto the Catherine Bryan Dill Center for the Performing Arts courtyard and is visible from Waterman Street between Stuart Theatre and the Building for Environmental Research and Teaching. The courtyard entrance is step free and wheelchair accessible. The Brown University Theatre Box Office is also located in the covered breezeway. Leeds Theatre is a flexible theatre space that is usually set up as a three-quarters thrust stage seating 140.
STRASBERG STUDIO
75 Waterman Street
Providence, RI 02912
Strasberg Studio is located in Faunce House. It is accessed via the Catherine Bryan Dill Center Courtyard. The stairs are located to your right as you face Leeds Theatre from the Waterman Street entrance. Strasberg seats 50 and is not wheelchair accessible. Though not a public venue, Strasberg Studio is home to many student performances and the annual student SoloFest held annually during commencement weekend.
STUART THEATRE
75 Waterman Street
Providence, RI 02912
Stuart Theatre is a large proscenium arch theatre space and is one of two main theatres in the department. It is located in Faunce House and was originally built in 1931 as the Faunce House Theatre. It was restored and reopened in 1995 as the Stuart Theatre. Stuart Theatre seats 240 people and is wheelchair accessible.
The theatre lobby has two entrances. The first is on Waterman Street, up a short flight of steps to the immediate east of Faunce Arch. A second entrance can be found on the Main Green, also up a short flight of steps and to the immediate right of the Brown Bear statue in front of Faunce House. A step-free entrance to the theatre runs along the side of the external wall of the building. Please contact the Box Office for more details.