Performance Spaces

The Cat in the Cream is a coffeehouse-style venue run entirely by students. Here you'll find classic coffeehouse entertainment-folk music, jazz, and poetry readings, for example - interspersed with improv and sketch comedy, student theater productions, dance, and storytelling. Bookings showcase homegrown talent along with national and even international acts. Reasonably priced coffees, teas, and juices, along with the Cat's famous giant cookies, also make this a favorite gathering place.

Between college and town lies a 13-acre, wooded green space that serves as a gathering place for picnics, bonfires, and festivals of all kinds. Erected in 1987 in Tappan Square, it also is the site of many small gatherings and concerts for both College students and members of the Oberlin community. Most performances are free, particularly in the summer. The pavilion's architecture evokes the image of a carnival cart from India. Julian S. Smith's design was chosen from among 50 entries.

The centerpiece of Bosworth Hall is Fairchild Chapel, a 150-seat facility that features a pipe organ based on building principles of the early 17th century. The chapel was inspired by the work of German organ builders Gottfried Fritzsche and Friedrich Stellwagen. It is named for James Harris Fairchild, who served as College president from 1866-89.

Large-scale theater productions, dance performances, and two operas annually are staged in the 500-seat Hall Auditorium. Its distinctive, wave-like façade was the subject of much controversy before and after its completion in 1953. The theater is named for Charles Martin Hall, an Oberlin alumnus, benefactor, and inventor who founded ALCOA. The Central Ticket Services box office is located in the lobby.

This 645-seat hall adjoins the Conservatory of Music and is used for numerous student and faculty recitals, as well as recording sessions. Architect Minoru Yamasaki completed the design in 1963, along with the main Conservatory complex. The hall now features a 44-stop Flentrop organ with 3,400 pipes, built in the northern European style of the 18th century.