Each season, more than 200 early-career actors, directors, designers, technicians, and administrators come to Williamstown Theatre Festival to participate in one of the country's most renowned professional training programs for theatre artists and administrators. In Williamstown, they become immersed in the art form, surrounded by those practicing at the top of their craft, and they witness risk-taking work that compels them to make their own leaps.
While the roster of WTF alumni boasts many stars of stage and screen, it also includes thousands of talented and dedicated artists, technicians, and administrators who populate the American professional theatre.
The Festival’s world-class professional training programs include:
APPRENTICE COMPANY: Selected from a competitive and diverse applicant pool, our 70 Apprentices receive high-level training, both in the classroom and "on-the-job". Apprentices are involved in ALL aspects of the Festival, receiving valuable realworld experience, a comprehensive look inside a professional theatre company, and contacts and mentor relationships that last a lifetime.
Previous Festival Apprentices include Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Kate Hudson, Allison Janney, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Santo Loquasto, Austin Pendleton, Chris Pine, Christopher Reeve, and George C. Wolfe.
NON-EQUITY ACTING COMPANY: An intimate group of elite early-career actors, some supplementing their MFA programs and others making WTF the next step in their career path, the Non-Equity Acting Company performs throughout the Festival - in the Community Works production, Fellowship Projects, Cabarets and special events, Directing Studio shows, developmental programs, and, in some cases, Main and Nikos Stage productions.
Previous Festival Non-Equity Acting Company members include Sterling K. Brown, Michael Cerveris, Charlie Day, Kathryn Hahn, Jane Kaczmarek, David Hyde Pierce, Laila Robins, Phillipa Soo, and Myra Lucretia Taylor.
DIRECTING CORPS: Serving as assistant directors on our Main and Nikos Stage productions, our Directing Corps of eight early-career directors is engaged in the work our audiences see each summer in Williamstown. In addition to their work on the Main and Nikos Stages, Directing Corps members direct Non-Equity and Apprentice Company members in frequent presentations throughout the summer in our Directing Studio.
Previous Directing Corps members include Oliver Butler, Mike Donahue, Lila Neugebauer, and Alex Timbers.
ADMINISTRATIVE & PRODUCTION INTERNS: Each summer, more than 100 current students and recent graduates begin their careers as administrative and production interns at Williamstown Theatre Festival, participating in workshops, master classes, forums, and seminars while literally building and supporting the Festival all summer long. Former technical and design interns and assistants have gone on to have celebrated careers in their respective fields, and former administrative interns and assistants hold leadership positions at arts institutions around the country.
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