Construction on the black box theater on UNA’s campus is expected to reach completion by early 2012.

“The new theater, as an addition to Norton Auditorium, will be state-of-the-art in every respect, with lighting, sound and other technical capabilities previously unavailable on our campus,” said Dr. David McCullough, chair of the Department of Music and Theatre.

“The performance space concept differs from the standard traditional theater design of Norton Auditorium in allowing for flexible seating of about 120 seats that may be arranged and coordinated with the staging and set design of each production,” McCullough said.

He added that the theater will be designated primarily as an academic space, to be used for all manner of theatrical performances and other presentations, as well as allowing for classroom and rehearsal space.

Currently, the first performances scheduled for the theater are student-directed plays to be performed in April of next year.

“The black box was originally planned by the theater professors at the time, Gladys Shepard and Jim Davis, to be part of the actual construction of Norton in 1968-69,” said UNA English professor Terry Pace. “It was ‘postponed’ when the project ran out of money.”

“Jim tried to renew interest in it several times before his retirement, but it never became a priority for that particular administration,” Pace added.

The black box theater is expected to provide a variety of new opportunities for the theater department and its students, as well as to serve as an upgrade from Norton Auditorium.

“Think of the black box as plain space, capable of becoming whatever you need it to be, within certain limitations,” said UNA theater alumnus Steifon Passmore.

“Basically, it’s a blank slate,” Passmore added. “Whereas Norton is this enormous venue capable of great feats of technical gymnastics, it can often be overkill for smaller shows that require less.”

“In a black box, you create the environment you need to successfully produce a show that requires less,” Passmore said.

Passmore added since less is often more, a black box theater offers limitless opportunities for students to evolve their craft as actors, directors and technicians.

According to officials, increased flexibility is another advantage the black box theater will provide for UNA. With the large amount of activity in Norton, an additional venue could eliminate some level of constraint from having to work around that schedule. Since most university theater programs have a black box, it could also make UNA theater more competitive.

The theater is to be named the George Lindsey Theater in honor of UNA alumnus George Lindsey, who starred in the 1960s television series “The Andy Griffith Show,” officials say.