Director: Fall Festival of Shakespeare - Lenox, United States - Shakespeare & Company

Description

START DATE

September 17, 2024

JOB TYPE

Seasonal

COMPENSATION
- $684/week with Housing at Shakespeare & Company; $724/week without housing provided

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POSITION: Director: Fall Festival of Shakespeare
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TERM: Seasonal, September 17

• November 25, 2024

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SUPERVISOR: Director of Education Kevin Coleman & Education Programs Administrator Meg Marchione
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SCHEDULE: Full-time exempt, evenings and weekends required
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LOCATION: On-site at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Mass. This position is in-person, meeting with other Directors and Shakespeare & Company staff in Lenox, and traveling to local schools for rehearsal in the afternoons/evenings Monday

• Friday

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SALARY: $684/week with Housing at Shakespeare & Company; $724/week without housing provided
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HOUSING: Company housing is available

• Organization

About the Shakespeare & Company Education Program & The Fall Festival of Shakespeare

• The Education Program at Shakespeare & Company invites and empowers students to bring the classical poetry and plays of Shakespeare alive in ways that are personally inspiring, educationally rigorous, and theatrically compelling. The Fall Festival of Shakespeare brings over 500 students together each year for a nineweek, collaborative, noncompetitive, celebratory exploration and production of multiple Shakespeare plays. Students at eleven high schools in Massachusetts and New York rehearse and fully produce a Shakespeare play in collaboration with a team of two directors, a production coordinator, and a costume designer from Shakespeare & Company. After inschool performances for their communities, the students from the participating schools meet at Shakespeare & Company and perform for each other over the course of four exhilarating days.
• Position Summary
• The Shakespeare & Company Education Department seeks experienced, and imaginative individuals to serve as Directors for the Fall Festival of Shakespeare. Directors are responsible for the daily management of students in a 90minute cut of a Shakespeare play at one of 10 area high schools, as a Director/Producer and representative of Shakespeare & Company to their assigned school from auditions through to a fully produced performance. The Director will work in tandem with their Directing partner, a Production Coordinator, a Costume Designer, and the entirety of the Education Staff for the duration of this contract.
• Roles & Responsibilities

Participate in a paid week of Director Training that examines the Shakespeare & Company Education Program ethic and aesthetic, and the daily functioning of The Fall Festival of Shakespeare.

• Expand on and further develop these methods using personal experience, skills, and areas of passion.
• Direct a group of students in a 90minute Shakespeare play at one of ten high schools in Massachusetts or New York, in collaboration with a directing partner and design team.
• Attendance and participation in weekly Director Meetings and Tech/Production meetings.
• Attendance and participation in Common Classes, involving the greater Fall Festival Community.
• Creation of materials needed for the production of a student show (weekly rehearsal schedules, a cut script, clear rehearsal guidelines, and communication between the school, Shakespeare & Company, and the show community, etc.)
• Support the work of the Festival at large, which includes Set Builds and Common Classes, and additional support during the week of the Festival (November During this week, all Directors are expected to be available at Shakespeare & Company fulltime to assist in the preparations for and production of the Fall Festival of Shakespeare, which may include some assistance at other schools' rehearsals, loading in scenic elements, costume maintenance and putaway, theatre setup and cleanup, help with house management or concessions, or other general assistance.
• Completion of a COVID19 vaccine regimen and booster, if eligible, before employment term, and willingness to test as per Company safety guidelines (at Company expense).
• Successful completion of a Criminal Offense Record Information check (CORI) before employment term (at Company expense).

Experience, Knowledge, Skills & Characteristics Sought

An undergraduate degree and/or the equivalent in prior experience directing and/or teaching young people or working in youth programs is required.

• Prior Shakespeare & Company Actor Training and/or experience working with Shakespeare & Company methodologies and interest in learning how to implement the foundational principles and methods in Shakespeare & Company's commitment to the actor/audience relationship is preferred.
• Passion for creating plays with young people that are personally inspiring and theatrically compelling;
• Strong organizational, project management, and communication skills.
• Ability to work collaboratively and communicate with a Directing Partner, Production Team, Shakespeare &