As a junior majoring in theater at Davidson College, Athena Stevens has an appreciation for outstanding theatrical venues — one of which is extremely close by. The Duke Family Performance Hall, located in the Knobloch Campus Center on the Davidson campus, was envisioned at its opening in 2002 as a vital cultural resource not just for the college, but for the region north of Charlotte. Since then, its state-of-the-art technological features have made it a popular setting for musical and theatrical productions, including a much-heralded residency by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2002 (with four more scheduled from 2005 through 2008). But while the Hall has developed as an important center of campus and community life, it is as an educational facility that it shines. Most audience members can appreciate the Hall’s physical and acoustical properties, but one of its most valuable attributes probably goes unnoticed by most visitors, Stevens says. “The real beauty of the Duke Family Performance Hall is that everything is accessible — including the light and sound boards, from the green room to the orchestra pit to backstage — in a wheelchair,” Stevens says. Stevens says the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles is to her knowledge the only other theater matching the Duke Family Performance Hall for accessibility. That attribute of the Hall has helped Stevens experience the full range of opportunities available to theater students, including technical work, on-stage performances, and now directing — she is working this year on a production centered on the theme of disability. The Hall, she says, “has made a huge difference for me, and it’s beginning to make a huge difference for other students with disabilities.” | 
