A new arts center in Southwest Washington brings three organizations under one roof: a theater company, an opera group and an independent film nonprofit. The Revada Arts Center gives Theater Alliance, IN Series and 4EYE Film Center a shared base with performance rooms, a cinema, rehearsal space and areas designed for artists and neighbors to spend time together.
The center’s official partners describe it as a new home for their work. IN Series said its new home began Oct. 23, while 4EYE Film Center says it opened that month as part of Revada. On Oct. 26, WETA’s Nicole Lacroix visited the building and reported on the newly opened center after touring it with Theater Alliance Executive Artistic Director Shanara Gabrielle.
The space covers about 9,000 square feet. Its largest performance room is a 140-seat black-box theater. A 58-seat cinema can host films and smaller performances, while a micro-proscenium, rehearsal rooms and a scene shop support work before it reaches an audience. The building also includes a co-working and community area.
The three organizations keep distinct missions. Theater Alliance produces plays, IN Series creates opera and music theater, and 4EYE presents independent films. They share use of the venue and make space-use decisions together under a cooperative cost model. Theater Alliance holds the lease and led the capital campaign; Gabrielle told WETA that the company took on the financial risk while partner groups contribute to rent based on the space and time they use. Together, the partners say, the setup makes facilities available across art forms and provides room for collaboration.
Gabrielle told WETA the shared area is meant to give artists a place to meet and visitors a reason to stay after a show. She described a co-working and artist-networking hub that will also serve as a café and community space. In its Oct. 26 report, WETA said the hub was open to artists and community members from Thursday through Sunday. The plans make the common area part of the center’s invitation to artists and neighbors.
For Theater Alliance, the new center is the next step after years of changing venues. WETA reports that the company moved from H Street to Anacostia, then staged a 2025 play in a pop-up black box inside a new apartment building and a Woody Guthrie musical outdoors at Waterfront Park in summer 2026. Revada gives the organization a more permanent base for rehearsals, performances and the practical work behind them, while its partners bring opera and independent film into the same building.
IN Series has also described the new address as a meaningful change. Its official announcement identifies Revada as its new official home. Sharing a building with theater and film partners gives the opera organization a place to develop its work while keeping its own programming identity. The partners have said they want to welcome additional arts groups into the space as resident users.
The cinema adds another way for audiences to take part. 4EYE describes itself as a nonprofit arthouse film center and says its programs are intended for people of different ages and backgrounds. Its official materials include film education, workshops and youth mentorship among the organization’s aims. The smaller screen room also gives the shared center a format that is different from a conventional stage production.
Gabrielle told WETA that any rental income would be shared among the partners as a supplement, rather than a requirement for meeting the center’s bottom line. That is the model’s stated design, not proof of its long-term financial results. The practical test will come as the organizations build regular schedules and use the rooms across the year.
A shared home will not remove the challenges facing arts nonprofits, but it gives these three groups a common set of tools and a more stable place to make work. At Revada, a theater rehearsal, an opera workshop and an independent film screening can all happen in the same building. The partners are betting that sharing the space can make room for more kinds of art and more ways for the community to encounter it.
Reader responses