Flea Theatre

Location
New York, New York

Owner
Flea Theatre

Team
Acoustics - Threshold
Architect - Architecture Research Office
Theatre Consultant - Theatre Consultants Collaborative

Size
120-, 75-, and 35-seat Theatres

Schedule
Completed 2015

The Flea Theater is a new home for the off-off Broadway incubator that supports emerging talent and the broader New York theater and performing arts community. An ambitious adaptive reuse, the three-theater complex celebrates the friction between old and new.

The Flea’s very New York philosophy - “a joyful hell on a small space” - is embedded in the walls of their new home. Efficiency and intimacy were the main design criteria, both of which are reflected in the decision to renovate an existing building whose largest of three theaters is only 65 seats. 

Putting “joyful hell” in a renovated space was an acoustic challenge. Threshold responded with an acoustic design that keeps the three venues independent for simultaneous performance and responds well to the human voice, yet controls loudness so that audiences are made only as uncomfortable as the Flea wants them to be. 

A ready-made collection of “found spaces” added to the unique character of the Flea. These included an outdoor courtyard theater and a stage surrounded by existing arched entries just begging to be used as a backdrop. 

In choosing to keep some of the old brick exposed and open one of the venues to the courtyard, the Flea accepted a little awareness of the city outside, but the balance fits its history as a creature of New York.