The Classical Fellowship for Directors of Color

THE CLASSICAL FELLOWSHIP PROVIDES THE OPPORTUNITY TO PARTICIPATE IN THE ARTISTIC LIFE OF A THEATRE WITH A RESIDENT COMPANY WORKING IN THE CLASSICAL CANON.

The Classical Fellowship for Directors of Color is divided into three parts – an orientation week, an early summer assistant directing assignment, and a fall directing/teaching residency.  The Fellow needs to be available for all three parts.

All 2013 Directing Fellows will gather in New York City in mid-May for Professionals Week, an intensive orientation week in the professional theatre. Directing Fellows will meet with members of the NY theatre community, attend performances, and participate in seminars and workshops with prominent industry professionals — in both the nonprofit and commercial theatre. The Fellow will then have a break of 4 to 5 weeks before the assistant directing residency commences in mid-June.

The Fellow will then travel to Shakespeare & Company, a nonprofit theatre located in Lenox, Mass, where the Fellow will assist artistic director Tony Simotes or a guest director on a production of a Shakespeare play. During the month-long rehearsal period, the Fellow will attend all rehearsals and production meetings associated with the production. In addition, in order to learn more about how a large resident company operates, the Fellow will have open access to other meetings, rehearsals and actor training events scheduled during their time at S&Co. Once the production opens, the Fellow will have a break until early September.

Beginning after Labor Day, the Fellow will participate in S&Co’s annual Fall Festival of Shakespeare, a 10-week residency program reaching nearly 500 students at high schools throughout western Massachusetts and neighboring New York State.  At each school, a team of directors leads students through a language-based exploration of a Shakespeare play.  The team consists of an experienced Fall Festival director who functions as leader, and the Classical Fellow who will participate as an associate director.  Prior to being placed in a school, the directors will participate in classes and training sessions run by S&Co’s renowned education department.  The school residency will culminate in a full-scale production that is performed for the public as part of the non-competitive Fall Festival of Shakespeare on S&Co’s Founders’ Theatre Mainstage

One director will be selected for the 2013 Classical Fellowship. We seek a director with a strong knowledge of Shakespeare production, possessing both directing experience and the ability to teach classical acting skills.  The Fellow will be provided with housing during the orientation period in New York City, transportation from New York to Lenox, Mass. and housing at Shakespeare & Company for both residency periods, and a stipend to cover living expenses.

Follow the Classical Fellow’s blog HERE!

Duration: May (1 week), June (4-5 weeks) and fall (10 weeks)

Application Deadline: February 1, 2013

CLICK HERE TO PAY YOUR FEE AND BEGIN YOUR APPLICATION!

 

Eligibility:

• Candidates must have completed their undergraduate degree by the commencement of the program. Candidates may be in the midst of their graduate training.
• Candidates may have come to a directing career after working in another field, but may not have directed regularly at the professional level.

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“The Drama League Fellowship has transformed my notion of what it means to be a classical director. Through a fully immersive experience, I received not only invaluable guidance, support, and training but the opportunity to take what I had learned and apply it to my own work.  It also allowed me to see that no one person, heritage, or culture holds the reins on the classics, and that it is not only important that we directors of color work on the classics but imperative that we do so.”            

— Snehal Desai, Classical Directing Fellow 2011