John Lyman Center for the Performing Arts is a multi-use performing arts facility. It consists of two performing spaces and a lobby art gallery. It is also home to the Department of Theatre with its costume and scenery shops.

The Center presents or facilitates hundreds of events and university sponsored activities each year. Lyman Center serves the university community as an arts performance and education facility. At Lyman Center, you'll find cultural events of all types: jazz, comedy, concerts, student activities, music, and drama.  In addition to amateur and professional performances, the Center hosts lectures, academic celebrations, classes, and exams.

MAINSTAGE
The most familiar part of the Center is the 1,500 fixed seat mainstage auditorium. This auditorium's capacity makes it similar in size to major area performing arts centers. The most distinctive feature of the mainstage is its three-quarter thrust stage design. The semicircle seating configuration allows all seats in the theater to be very close to the stage. The front main sections only have 10 rows and the upper section back row is only 20 rows from the stage. The theatrical lighting system of the mainstage is also impressive. A fully computerized system using state-of-the-art technology controls the output of over 500 instruments that are partially hidden in the ceiling behind a tension-wire grid. The stage lighting alone is operated with a power supply of more than 25 times that of typical household electrical service.

THE KENDALL DRAMA LAB
The Kendall Drama lab is a 50' square black box performance and classroom space used by the Southern Connecticut State University Department of Theatre. In the Drama Lab, students can participate in classes, build sets, and perform in theatrical productions. The seating for Drama Lab performances is flexible and varies depending on set design. The usual format accommodates about 125 people.