Built in 1925, Neely Auditorium spent its first several decades as the central meeting area on the Vanderbilt campus. All Vanderbilt alumni from this time remember the chapel services, Western Civ. classes, and Commencement ceremonies that traditionally took place here. Some remember most clearly Neely's attractive but uncomfortable wooden pews.

Something very different began to take shape within this Gothic structure in 1976. Architects and contractors and a new sense of energy entered Neely, cleaned it out, and started building something new. When they were through, they'd created one of the most advanced and experimental theatre facilities on any U.S. campus.

Almost nothing - seating, orientation, or ground level - in Neely Auditorium's "black-box"; performance space must remain static. This flexibility makes it possible to reconstruct virtually all of the dominant theatrical designs of the past 2500 years or so. Actors and audiences can experience Shakespeare's pit, the formal formula of traditional Greek theatre, the intimacy conducive to the theatre of the absurd, and just about anything in between. Audiences never know what they might see next.

Actors, designers, and technicians working in Neely Auditorium gain invaluable experience with a broad range acting styles and production challenges and opportunities.