THE MAKESHIFT THEATRE
Our Venue
Makeshift Theatre / Coach House Theatre
A rich theatrical History
The theatre at 732 West Exchange Street in Akron began as a carriage house on the Akron Woman’s City Club estate. The building dates to 1913, though the exterior carries the date 1928.
In 1948, the Akron Woman’s City Club’s Little Theatre Players began using and converting the carriage house for theatrical work. A major transformation came in 1958, when the second floor over the auditorium was removed, the south wall was opened for a proscenium, and a dedicated stage house was built. Historical records from the theatre community describe the resulting proscenium opening as 22 feet wide.
Over the decades, the Coach House became one of Akron’s intimate neighborhood theatres, with later additions expanding the depth of the stage and backstage working areas.
None Too Fragile Theatre occupied the space from 2019 to 2024.
In 2025, Makeshift Theater, founded in 2023, signed a five-year lease with the Akron Woman’s City Club and made the Coach House its permanent home. Makeshift, under the direction of Jane Bond, tundertook roughly $30,000 in renovations, supported by grants, donations, and volunteer labor. The work included new seating, carpet, lighting, repainting, and significant backstage improvements.
Makeshift describes its mission as
"providing a theatre where artists can experiment,
learn, gain experience, and use live performance to entertain,
support, and connect with the community. "
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SPECIFICATIONS:
732 West Exchange Street, Akron, Ohio 44302. -
House capacity: approximately 75 seats.
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Stage type: proscenium.
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Backstage facilities: green room, dressing room, prop area, small workshop,, upgraded electrical service, and plumbing.
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Audience environment: intimate, traditional theatre seating with a relatively close actor-audience relationship.
