Some information about the MIT Shakespeare Ensemble for Director Candidates =========================================================================== * The Interview The interview will be in two parts. To begin with, there'll be a Q&A session with members of the ensemble about your experience, your preferences in shows and approaches, etc. For the second part, we'd like you to prepare a short scene that you could work on with a few of the people who are at the interview. This will give some of the members a chance to see what it's like working with you. The scene can be from any material, although something from Shakespeare's works is preferable of course. Smaller scenes are usually best; two to five actors, say, and probably not more than five minutes of scene time. The office is quite small, so there won't be a lot of room for staging. The interviews will take place in the Ensemble's office on the MIT campus, in room w20-421 on the fourth floor of the MIT student center, at 84 Massachusetts Ave. in Cambridge. If you need more specific directions, let me know. * Show Selection Process The MIT Shakespeare Ensemble chooses its shows each term through a collaborative process with the director. To begin with, the Ensemble members have discussions about various shows they are interested in performing, and then vote among those plays to create a "long list" of five plays. The director then creates a "short list" of three plays, at least two of which must be from the "long list". The third play may also be from the long list, or it may be another play of the director's choosing, Shakespeare or non-Shakespeare. The Ensemble schedules readings of the three plays from the short list. All members who will be voting on the shows are expected to either attend these readings or read the shows on their own time. A meeting will be scheduled for the director to present his or her vision for the three shows on the short list to the Ensemble. After that meeting, members of the Ensemble will have a discussion and vote for which of the three shows they would prefer. Usually this vote happens very soon after the meeting, and the director is informed as soon as possible thereafter. The "long list" for Spring 2008 has already been decided. It is: - Twelfth Night - All's Well That Ends Well - Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard - Coriolanus - A Midsummer Night's Dream Although you need not have decided on a short list before the interview, it would be useful to have considered the shows on the long list, and have some preliminary thoughts ready to discuss. It is also worth noting that the Ensemble generally prefers to avoid repeating the same show twice in four years. As such, we recommend against choosing a show that has been performed recently for the short list. Recent Ensemble shows have been: - Titus Andronicus, Fall 2007 - The Lion in Winter, Summer 2007 - Henry V, Spring 2007 - The Tempest, Fall 2006 - King Lear, Spring 2006 - Macbeth, Fall 2005 - Machinal, Summer 2005 - Othello, Spring 2005 - The Taming of the Shrew, Fall 2004 - No Exit, Summer 2004 - Much Ado About Nothing, Spring 2004 A complete list can be found at http://web.mit.edu/ensemble/www/shows/ Other Shakespearean shows produced recently at MIT (but not by the Ensemble) include As You Like It and Julius Caesar. * Audition/Casting Policy Auditions for the show are open to members of the MIT community. However, members of the Shakespeare Ensemble who are in good standing are given preference in casting and assured at least some part in the show if they audition. Traditionally there is a first round of auditions for Members, after which the director, producer, etc. attempt a first pass at casting. Then there is a second round of open auditions (sometimes on the same day as the first round of auditions, depending on schedules), a set of callbacks if necessary, and then a final casting meeting before the cast list is posted. An officer of the Ensemble who is not auditioning sits in on the casting meeting to keep the Ensemble's casting policy in mind (typically this person is the producer of the show). * Rehearsal Schedule Rehearsals are typically held on weekday evenings and on the weekends. There is some flexibility on timing depending on the schedules of actors and the director. Due to the frequently hectic nature of being an MIT student, actors by default may not be scheduled for more than 15 hours of rehearsal per week, with the exception of tech week. Directors may request additional rehearsal time of actors, but actors are not required to attend. Any such conflicts should be discussed between the director, actor(s) and stage manager. * Production Staff Production staff positions are filled by members of the ensemble and others in the MIT community. The Ensemble asks for volunteers for these positions and are confirmed by the Officers. Frequently there is an assistant to major positions (technical director, designers, stage manager, etc.) who is mentored over the course of the production. Production staff members are frequently also actors who audition for and are cast in the show. * Staging Shows are performed in La Sala de Puerto Rico, on the second floor of the MIT Student Center at 84 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge (the same building as the Ensemble's office). The room is a large, rectangular ballroom-style space with a light grid that is used as a theatre by the Shakespeare Ensemble, the Musical Theatre Guild, and the Gilbert & Sullivan Players. Seating is on risers and may be configured as a standard stage, 3/4 thrust, in the round, etc. Typically the Ensemble uses curtains to limit the staged and seating areas. There are two exits to the hall on the main floor, and one exit to a side room used as a combination dressing room/green room. A map showing the location of the student center on campus is here: http://whereis.mit.edu/bin/map?mapterms=w20&mapsearch=go * Technical Scope Due to the fact that the Ensemble is a student group, budgets for shows tend to be fairly limited. Typically $300-500 is spent on sets for each show, and $200-400 on costumes. The Ensemble has some costume, set piece, and prop resources available to it, but in general the scope of technical efforts is somewhat limited. * Director Contract and Stipend Directors are asked to sign a contract explaining some of their responsibilities. Directors are paid a stipend of $1000 for their efforts. Typically this payment is in two parts, half at the first production meeting and half after opening night. If you have any questions or concerns regarding any of these matters, please let me know, and I will answer them or put you in touch with the appropriate person. Thanks, Tom Giordano justom@mit.edu