The Briggs is a 126-seat proscenium theater that also serves as a classroom for many theatre classes. Intimate productions find a cozy home in the Briggs Theatre with its small stage, limited fly loft, and full lighting and sound systems. Originally called the Lab Theatre, it was renamed for Professor Wallace N. Briggs in 1986.
In 1986, the Laboratory Theatre in the Fine Arts Building was renamed the Briggs Theatre in honor of Wallace N. Briggs (1914 -1993), who took over the reins of the Guignol Theatre in 1943. Briggs was a graduate of the University of Kentucky, and went on to do his graduate work in theatre at Yale University. One of his fondest memories occurred in the 1950s while performing the title role in Uncle Vanya, and after a performance, Helen Hayes came backstage to compliment Briggs’ performance, and told him that she had never seen anyone perform that role as well as he had played it. That experience confirmed his life-long commitment to the theatre, and he communicated his energy and dedication to his students.
The Briggs Theatre can be found via multiple entrances. Using the front entrance of the Fine Arts Building off Rose Street, walk through the lobby and doors into the hallway and make an immediate right. At the end of the hallway on the right is the Briggs Theatre and assistance can be requested for entering the theatre. If you enter the Fine Arts Building via the basement Patterson Drive entrance and take the elevator to the 1st Floor, you can proceed forward and enter the Briggs Theatre through the doors on the left.
For parking and general building handicap accessibility, please see the Fine Arts Building page.