IOKA

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The IOKA is a theater and club located in Exeter, New Hampshire. It can seat 525 people.

The theater is open on every day of the week while the club serves as a secondary theater Sunday-Wednesday ^[1] and then is converted into a club Thursday-Saturday. The club is considered to look like a "Vegas style gaming room." ^[2]

1 History
2 Events
3 Criticism
- 3.1 Air Conditioning
- 3.2 Sound
4 References
5 External links

[edit] History

The theater opened on November 1, 1915 under owner Edward Mayer. It took Mayer two years to work up the money to finance the theater. The first movie to be shown at the theater was the The Birth of a Nation, directed by D. W. Griffith. The look of the IOKA even today has managed to stay very much the same since its inception.

The name IOKA comes from a contest to name the theater that happened shortly before the opening of the theater. The winner was a young lady who was deeply entrenched in Indian lore. The word IOKA in the Squamscot Indian language means playground. That young lady went on to be the first cashier at the IOKA. ^[3]

Under new ownership, Roger Detzeler the IOKA has become more event oriented. The IOKA is in testing times right now as it is only a 1 (and a half) screen theater and other New Hampshire seacoast competitors are always renovating.

[edit] Events

In addition to showing movies the Ioka also hosts events such as the Boston Comedy festival recently. Tim Janis recently did a concert there in support of NHPTV. Another musician to grace the stage was Warren Zevon.

Other upcoming acts include Tim Janis, its first theatrical presentation a musical called 8-Track, and upcoming concerts by Kashmir and the Blushing Brides. Oct 21, 2006 the IOKA will host Jackie 'The Joke Man' Martling.

The IOKA is one of the few local theaters that consistently offers midnight shows.

[edit] Criticism

[edit] Air Conditioning

Since there's only air conditioning in the lower, smaller theater in the summer time some consider it "suicide" to be in the theater. And because for most of the year New Hampshire is not that hot it is not as important to have air conditioning.

However it can be rather hot in the theater in the summer. The lack of air conditioning is due to two factors. The age of the building, and a lack of adequate electrical service. The cost of modifications and the operating expenses are beyond the current operating budget of the theater.

[edit] Sound

Another common complaint before the surround sound was installed was that since the sound is not digital surround sound in the theater it can be hard to hear from certain ares of the theater.

But now the main theater has been upgraded to Dolby surround, with a complete rennovation of its main speaker array. Also, a new screen was installed to provide a more consistent image to all seats in the house. The lower theater remains the same.