Eric Mansfield stood in front of an eager audience. It was filled with first-time visitors to the old coach house building, the new home of Makeshift Theater, along with veteran attendees who auditioned for and saw productions at the venue decades ago.
The professional playwright and Akron native talked about the building renovations, gave a brief description of his play and acknowledged other creatives in the crowd. All of the patrons were sitting in the red seats donated to the recently reopened venue.
Amid their chatter about showings of “Hamlet” from years back and their approval of the improvements made to the theater since then, the lights darkened and a staged reading, ‘Ride or Die,’ began.
Recent renovations to the West Akron carriage house
The 100-plus-year-old coach house at Akron Woman’s City Club in West Akron, home to theater companies for decades, underwent a $30,000 renovation this spring. Makeshift Theater funded the work from grants and donations from local supporters. After the building sat dormant for nearly three years, the rehab began in May with a day of cleaning.
Around 50 volunteers helped gut and clean up the theater — old carpet was pulled up, paint was stripped and dated chairs were removed. The stage, stage trim and walls were repainted, and new carpet and lighting, along with auditorium seats donated from Akron Public Schools, were installed.
Behind the curtain, the stage goes deeper than before, then is divided by a wall leading into a green room, dressing room and prop and set-making station. These rooms have new electrical and plumbing for the actors and stage crew. There are more renovations to come to improve the theater.
“We started back in May or June,” Mansfield said. “Started renovating it over the summer, had our first shows in here. We’re continuing the renovations, getting some grants for shows, getting some grants for more of the renovations and things like that.”
In its new home, Makeshift Theater has already produced a couple of stage plays, including “The Night I Died at the Palace Theater” and “Adventures with Sherlock.”
The theater, which seats almost 75 guests, is opening up the venue space to eclectic performers and individuals ranging from improv to community events, Mansfield said. The mission of Makeshift Theater, according to its website, is to “create programming for the year and make this space available and inexpensive to the community to rent.”
The carriage house’s history as a theater
The Coach House Theatre was most known for its “rich history and theatrical performances.” The carriage house was built in 1913, although the building’s exterior says 1928. It was extended and turned into a theater in 1948, when the Akron Woman’s City Club’s Little Theatre Players converted the space into the Coach House Theatre.
In 2019, None Too Fragile Theatre occupied the coach house, producing stage plays until 2024. Makeshift Theater became the newest coach house tenant, signing a five-year lease this past summer.
