Waterford — To much applause and with wine and cheese abounding, the Eugene O’Neill Theater held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday in celebration of the completion and opening of the theater’s new Victorian-style residential village for visitors to the historic campus.

To those in attendance, the event marked more than the opening of new dormitories on the campus. They said the new buildings fostered a sense of community on the campus and further solidified the O’Neill’s role of ushering new artists into the world of theater well into the future.

“I do believe that there is no civilization — in the truest sense of the word — without theater,” said National Theater Institute Artistic Director Rachel Jett during opening remarks.

The $8 million project was first conceived about eight years ago, according to theater Executive Director Preston Whiteway, with construction completed over the past 18 months.

Project architect Chad Floyd modeled his design for the new buildings on the Methodist camps of the 19th century, where people gathered during the summer for worship and community.

Four of the theater's seven new dormitory cottages, plus a new rehearsal hall, opened this past fall. The remainder of the cottages, plus a laundry building modeled on the Stonington borough lighthouse, have since been completed. The structures will welcome students and other visitors in June.

Public officials including U.S. Sens. Richard Blumenthal and Chris Murphy, D-Conn., Waterford First Selectman Daniel Steward, state Sen. Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, and state Rep. Kathleen McCarty, R-Waterford., attended, along with O’Neill Theater Founder George C. White.

Murphy said during opening remarks that the theater played a special role in injecting inspiration into education.

“It’s not the textbooks that inspire my 6-year-old. It’s the performances that he sees,” he said.

NTI students made a brief appearance during opening remarks before rushing off to prepare for opening night of an original piece they created and directed themselves.

The cutting of a red ribbon, undertaken by Whiteway with a pair of oversized blue-handled scissors, followed at the Jim & Jane Henson Rehearsal Hall.

The evening wound down with open houses at the new buildings as the NTI performance began.

Puppeteer Fred Thompson, who supervises the puppet shop for the National Puppetry Conference at O’Neill, said that in the past the O’Neill had to house some visitors at Mitchell College and ferry them back and forth for programs.

“It just, it breaks everything up,” he said.

He said the increased residential capacity — from about 40 to roughly 100 beds, Whiteway said in September — will reduce such interruptions.

“This is an amazing addition to the campus,” he said, continuing later, “So, yeah – I think it’s a big deal.”

t.townsend@theday.com

Twitter: @ConnecticuTess