Administrators in the theater department are excited to show off the finished theater space this week, but there is still plenty of work behind the scenes.

For the past few months, The Village Theater on 18th Street had been filled with construction crews battling against the calendar to finish the theater before the opening of “Waiting for Godot” on Wednesday. However, on Monday afternoon, the building was quiet and the crews were gone except for one man left wiring the final sound equipment.

John Oertling, chair of the theater department, said it was relief to have the theater done and the construction has been an added pressure for everyone involved with the play.

Oertling hoped the entire building would be finished by Nov. 1, but when the scenery, the lighting and the seats were not installed by then, crews focused their attention solely on the theater. The approaching deadline caused a sense of urgency for people involved with “Waiting for Godot,” but the completion of the project Monday was reason for celebration.

“We were rushing,” he said. “We knew we were pushing it.”

Clarence Blanchette, a theater professor who was the director of “Waiting for Godot,” said the cast and crew picked up on the hurried attitude, but were not negatively impacted.

“There was a little bit of a rush toward the end, but it wasn’t bad,” he said.

Now that the department has one more project completed and is closer to settling into the former IGA building, he said the actors feel excited and anticipatory.

“The mood is very upbeat,” he said. “I think they are ready to get this open.”

The theater looks just like Oertling envisioned it would for opening day, with play lights hung, black paint covering the walls and the simple scenery prepared. The theater holds 188 seats, eight more than he had expected, and the hallways are vacant of the boxes that piled against the walls.

However, as crews and administration turned their concentration on the theater, the back stage area became a second priority.

The scene shop is still cluttered with properties and equipment, but Blanchette said the nature of the play did not require the area to be completely organized yet.

“There is nothing in (the scene shop) that we absolutely have to have today,” Oertling said. “We are making progress on it.

The properties need to be unpacked and reorganized into a trailer behind the Village Theater, and a shelf needs to be installed in the sound booth. The department also has to assemble several hanging units for costumes.

“The important thing is that we are making progress,” he said. “We’re teaching class and we’re going to open on Wednesday night.”

The department has no definite deadline as to when they will completely have the scene shop organized, but he said once the play is finished, administrators will refocus their concentration.

“I don’t think it’s really bothered us,” Blanchette said. “Our needs for this particular show were well met. We have no complaints.”