The Theatre lobby looked radically different in 1919 than it does today. Renovations beginning in 2001 opened up the lobby, replacing the old men and women’s coatrooms with a modern concessions stand.

One of the most striking features of the Hart House Theatre lobby is the floor-to-ceiling linocut that adorns the far wall. Produced by art director Fred Coates in 1934, the linocut depicts a scene from a 1922 production of the The Tempest, a collaboration between Coates and then artistic director Bertram Forsyth.¹

While the lobby did not have a formal concessions stand until the renovations in 2001 during artistic director Nancy Pyper’s tenure (1935-1937) a sausage stand was set up in the lobby.²

As part of the Hart House Theatre revitalization campaign theatre alumni Lorne Michaels contributed towards constructing a the newly named “Lorne Michaels Lobby,” with a new bar, expanded washrooms, and a more open space.³