I got the impression that it's an area like the concession stands. In this case it is exploited by the Theater, but can be rented or whatever term is used... have someone not from the theater explore it and pay a fixed amount..
That's the impression I got from it. I know several places here in Portugal that do that. For example, some guys I know bought a large area of terrain. They wanted to build a Cafe/Restaurant, but wouldn't have any use for so much land, so, they made a large garden with a swimming pool, they explore the Cafe, and rent the swimming pool/garden to be explored by anyone, since the pool is only usable in the Summer, the contract is on a yearly basis, but they have to take care of the garden area all year. Now, even in the Winter it is a rather beautiful place to spend an afternoon. Everyone wins.
I dunno if that is what was going there, but I got the impression that it could be.
Peace