The Flea Theater's New Home, Designed by Architecture Research Office, to Open September 28On September 28, The Flea Theater will open a new, 11,330-sq.-ft. home at 20 Thomas Street, in New York City, designed by Architecture Research Office (ARO). This stand-alone theater complex for the Off-Off Broadway company houses three performance spaces (ranging from 40 seats to 120 seats), lobbies and public areas, rehearsal space, dressing rooms, other support space, and offices. "We designed beautiful and intimate spaces that will help emerging artists practice their craft, established artists try new things, and mid-career artists establish identity," says Kim Yao, principal at ARO. "The completion of this project signifies The Flea Theater's ongoing commitment to produce plucky theater and ensuring a permanent and stable home for the Off-Off Broadway company," adds Stephen Cassell, also principal at ARO. The award-winning Flea was created in 1996 by three downtown artists -- founding artistic director Jim Simpson, writer Mac Wellman, and designer Kyle Chepulis. The mission was simple yet bold: "to raise a joyful hell in a small space" by representing the best and brightest of what Off-Off-Broadway can be. True to this day, The Flea produces over 250 cutting-edge performances each year, giving voice and opportunity to diverse and innovative writers, directors, actors, and designers who have something urgent to say about our world. The Flea is a destination for bold theater that sticks and stays with you long after the performance. The Flea's new home is the result of an ambitious adaptive reuse -- the three-theater complex celebrates the friction between old and new, intimacy and spectacle, the individual and the city. A muted, brick façade faces Thomas Street, with box office and lobby spaces accessed at ground level. The building retains its historic masonry and timber structure, but was expanded through excavation at the basement and raising the roof (to create volume for the theaters). The Flea features three distinctive and singularly named theaters that directly bring the audience into the performance: The Sam, a 120-seat black box; The Pete, a 40-seat intimate one-of-its-kind indoor/outdoor performance space; and The Siggy, a 46-seat below-ground theater that uses arches dating back to the building's origins in the 1700s. These theaters are intertwined with offices, costume shop, dressing rooms, and a green room, providing infrastructure to support active performing arts throughout the building. With these spaces, The Flea is not only a venue to showcase new and important performances, but also an open, second home for writers, actors, directors, and other performing artists including dancers and musicians. Each theater is defined by a simple and neutral palette for scenic flexibility, and fitted with pipe grids, equipment, and lighting. It is targeting LEED-Silver certification. "ARO was a terrific match for The Flea." says producing director, Carol Ostrow. "They challenged us in all of the right ways and pushed our architectural choices to be as daring and forthright as the work we do on stage. So, our theaters are well met by our lobby, office, and dressing rooms. Even the stairwells seem Flea." 
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