Playshop Theatre
About the Playshop Theatre
The Playshop Theatre at Allegheny College was inaugurated by Alice Huntington Spalding in 1929 with her production of Dear Brutus in Arter Hall. In the intervening years, the Playshop has produced over 500 plays including classic works by Shakespeare, Molière, Shaw, Williams, O’Neill, Miller, Wilder, and Coward, contemporary playwrights such as Sam Shepard, Tom Stoppard, Suzan-Lori Parks, Wendy Wasserstein, Tina Howe, Tony Kushner, Caryl Churchill, and Paula Vogel, and musicals including The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Pirates of Penzance, and Carousel, as well as original works by faculty, students and visiting artists. In 2009 we moved into our new home in the Vukovich Center for Communication Arts. The Playshop season is now performed in the Gladys Mullenix Black Theatre.
Gladys Mullenix Black Theatre 
The award-winning Gladys Mullenix Black Theatre, featuring a 40-foot Proscenium stage with technical systems and architectural features designed to support professional-level learning, both on-stage and backstage.
The horseshoe shape of the theatre’s seating, along with its balcony, creates a closeness and synergy between audience and actor. And the technical aspects of the theatre (including the catwalk, lighting grids, and pipe grids) are innovatively exposed, providing a unique behind-the-scenes perspective to teachers, learners , and spectators alike.
The Gladys Mullenix Black Theatre on campus is named in the honor of Gladys Black, ‘54, a trustee of Allegheny College. In 2015 she received the Alumni Medal, the college’s oldest and most prestigious alumni award. Her generous financial support of the College directly touches the lives of countless students. She has been a generous supporter of the College’s general endowment fund. She funded the Gladys Mullenix Black Theatre in the Vukovich Center for Communication Arts in 2006. Earlier, she replaced seats in the Playshop Theatre in Alden Hall in 2001, donated a gift for renovating dormitories in 2000, and supports the Annual Fund every year. Gladys was a member of the President’s Society, Timothy Alden Council, and William Bentley Legacy Society.
Playshop Theatre Events
Video footage and/or photos will be taken during this event, throughout the Vukovich Center, which may or may not include your recognizable image.
Please be advised, by participating in this event, you agree to allow Allegheny College to use the images in print, digital or web-based formats for promotional and archival purposes.
If you do not wish to have us use your image, please notify the Box Office Manager.
For Reservations or Questions contact Benjamin Bargar at the Box Office (814) 332-3414.
On Stage Gallery
Alum Liz Colarte presents “As Good As It Gets” at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe August 2-24!
What do you do when you hate the guy you’re dating, but he only has one eye? What do you stare at when sitting across from an old person whose eyes are constantly dripping in a way that can’t possibly be healthy? What happens when a textbook life doesn’t match up with the story you had in your head? May as well have some gross, wet cake and laugh all the way down. A wet punch of the ordinary and of what we lose when we can’t be satisfied.
If you’ll be in Scotland, don’t miss it! A few weeks after the Fringe Festival, the Playshop Theatre will present Liz and her production “As Good As It Gets” September 20-21 as part of Blue and Gold Weekend.
Allegheny College Introduces Commitment to Access Program To Enhance Affordability for Pennsylvania Students and Families
Allegheny College today introduced a new Commitment to Access Program (CAP) that will cover 100 percent of tuition for Pennsylvania students from families earning an income of $50,000 or less. If you’re a student interested in studying communication, film, theatre, and/or dance within a rigorous liberal arts college, you should come visit!
Major or Minor in Theatre
Your love of theatre doesn’t have to end when the curtain lowers. Allegheny College offers a theatre major and minor.
Featured News
Allegheny’s Playshop Theatre to Stage “Go Play Outside!” in an Outdoor Venue
While the bright lights of Broadway and theater districts throughout the nation remain mostly dark, Allegheny College’s Playshop Theatre will stage an outdoor performance festival “Go Play Outside!” on three weekends in late September and October. The festival is open only to members of the Allegheny community. It will be staged in the Vukovich Center […]
