A vital theatre is essential to the humanities. Painting, music, dance, poetry, literature, sculpture, philosophy, psychology, political science, and social science are all found in and employed by the theatre. The noted director and critic, Harold Clurman, maintained that he could visit any country with an active theatre and, from seeing just one play, tell you the state and conditions of that nation without even knowing its language
The John Astin Theatre is the performing branch of the Johns Hopkins University Theatre Arts and Studies Program. The JAT mission is to develop artists who create performances of credibility, power, imagination, and spontaneity, who promote new theatre, and who actively seek opportunities to collaborate with other artists and disciplines.
The Theatre is located on the second floor of the historic Merrick Barn, affectionately known as the Barn, on Hopkins Homewood campus. The Barn built by Charles Carroll in the early 19th century. Originally intended for dairy cattle, the structure was converted into a student center when the University moved to Homewood. The ground floor contained three lunch rooms and a barbershop, the second floor housed the offices of the YMCA and the News-Letter (published by the students of Johns Hopkins since 1897), and the loft was used by the Dramatic Club, which renamed itself the Barnstormers. In the late 1940s, the Barn was occupied by the Department of Writing, Speech, and Drama, and in 1950 Barnstormer President and future actor John Astin ‘52 rehearsed his first full- length play on its stage. Years later, when Drama & Speech courses were dropped, the Barn housed Theatre Hopkins, a local community theater, and in 1983, the Barn was formally named the Merrick Barn, in honor of Robert G. Merrick, donor of the funds which made possible the restoration of both the Barn and Homewood House. In 2004, the Merrick Barn became the home of the new Hopkins Theatre Arts & Studies Program, founded and directed by John Astin ‘52. The Barn now provides classrooms, a scene shop and a performance stage.
