• The exterior of the Gilmore Theatre Complex at night.
  • Students getting ready in the dressing room with the focus on a woman putting on mascara in front of the lighted mirrors.
  • The Shaw Theatre stage with one person in a directors chair answering questions from a packed audience.
  • Students working in a lit black box theatre.

Facilities

The original theatre space was built in 1968  and augmented with a $5.4 million addition in 1994. The department has three theatres for its exclusive use as laboratories for the study of theatre through the production of plays and musicals.  The Gilmore Theatre Complex is an extremely versatile space, featuring a beautiful atrium lobby at the center that is used regularly by the department for events and cabaret performances. All of the spaces within the complex are available to the public for rental.

Video of WMU Theatre Facilities

 Performance courses are taught in the Williams Theatre, the York Theatre and the adjacent greenroom, and the acting studio.  Design and technical production courses are taught in Shaw Theatre, Williams Theatre, both shops, the Acting Studio, and the Design Studio.  Dramatic literature and theatre history courses are scheduled in Dunbar or Brown Halls, traditional classroom buildings that are close to the Gilmore Theatre Complex.

Another off-site facility utilized by the department is Western Sound Studios, a fully equipped audio recording studio. While administered by the School of Music, we have used this facility on several occasions for production recording. Additionally, the Division of Media Services maintains television production and digital media studios in Dunbar Hall, with motion capture and blue screen capabilities, to which we have access for our production and academic programs. 

Rental Information