The Irondale Ensemble Project, a Brooklyn-based off-Broadway theater company, will soon trade its nomadic existence for a spectacular new performance space.
Once a $2.5 million renovation is completed in late September, the company will move into the annex of the historic Lafayette Presbyterian Church in Fort Greene (85 South Oxford Street).
The 5,400-square-foot space – dubbed the Irondale Center – will feature 28-foot ceilings and a 1,900 square foot balcony. The room has flexible seating with a capacity of 200 people.
“The movable seating will accommodate small, intimate performances or larger ones. And the acoustics of the building are fabulous,” said Joe McCarthy, director of development for the company, which consists of 14 paid, full-time members.
The company’s office space, along with restrooms and a new entrance, will be located under the balcony.
A strenuous effort was made to preserve the space’s 19th century stained glass windows and moldings, giving it, in the words of Artistic Director Jim Niesen, the look of “a very carefully nurtured ruin. We really wanted to maintain the character of the 19th century church. There’s a lot of renovation but it doesn’t show.”
Just three blocks away from BAM, Irondale’s new digs will complement the BAM Cultural District, the redevelopment of city-owned property into performance and rehearsal space for a diverse range of arts groups.
For Irondale, the move gives the 25-year-old company a much-needed permanent home for their plays and educational outreach activities.
The company’s office space has been on 7th Street between Second and Third avenues in Gowanus in the recent past. Performances have mostly been at the Theater for the New City in Manhattan’s East Village.
“It’s very important for our artists not to be isolated, to be very entangled and engaged in the world we deal with,” said Niesen.
The new space will be christened with an October 15 showing of “Peter Pan.” The dark, psychologically probing interpretation centers around the idea that Peter is the dead eldest son of the Darling family.
Whether using original scripts or re-interpreting classics, each of Irondale’s 42 productions to date has sought to explore complex psychological or social themes.
As Niesen said, “We want to use theater in a very awakening way. We want to make you feel when you leave there that you want to do something else, try something else.”
Another staple of Irondale is its educational component, which reaches approximately 900 high school-aged children each year by teaming with city high schools to impart the lessons of theater.
For the past several years, the company has sent its members to Bushwick Leaders High School (797 Bushwick Avenue) and Benjamin Banneker Academy (71-77 Clinton Avenue), as well as schools in both Manhattan and the Bronx.
This September, Irondale will launch a youth company that will train alongside and be tutored by the adult company. This company will start with 12 high school-aged students, but administrators are hopeful that it will quickly expand to include more students and a greater age range.
Irondale’s social mission is consistent with the history of the Lafayette Presbyterian Church, a former hotbed of abolitionist activity once nicknamed the “Temple of Abolition.” During the 1860s, the church housed many runaway slaves in its basement.
Through the years, the church has drawn an array of historically significant speakers like Frederick Douglas, Charles Dickens and P.T. Barnum.
Its annex has not been used for public performance since the 1930s.
For more information on Irondale performances, go to www.irondale.org.
