The passage to room B005 in the Music and Speech Center is full of twisted turns and descending stairways, but what lies in the basement is worth the journey.

“Lab shows” are student productions that are unique to the School of Theatre and Dance because they are entirely student-generated.

“It’s 99.9 percent students,” said Brian Crowley, president of Roundtable, the student production board that decides what lab shows will be produced. “We decide the shows we want to put on. The faculty help, but we have free reign over what we do.”

The school produces two main stage productions each semester, which are chosen and directed by the faculty. The students have an obligation to participate and audition for a set number of main stage productions in their college career, but lab plays are extracurricular activities for the students who participate in them.

“You can only get so excited about something you’ve been told that you’re going to do,” Crowley said. “But when you choose your own show that you want to do, it, just gets people so much more excited about it and there’s just so much more enthusiasm and energy there.”

There are three lab shows this semester that are free for everybody, not just Kent State students. Roundtable hasn’t decided yet which shows are going to be produced, but the dates and times have been announced. All plays will be in room B005 of the Music and Speech Center.

“People come see the show because they’re kind of intrigued,” Crowley said. “It’s in the basement; that’s kind of weird. It’s kind of a fun secret underground thing that happens that not a lot of people know about.”

Contact features correspondent Sara Petersen at [email protected].