Work & Learn

We encourage you to apply for at-will, seasonal employment or training opportunities with Williamstown Theatre Festival as we hope to be operating back in Williamstown, MA during the summer of 2021. At this time, however, we do not know if running a theatre season will be possible in light of federal, state, and local guidance concerning the global health pandemic. We encourage you to apply for these at-will positions, which will be contingent upon whether or not we can proceed with a full season. We will post an update here and will communicate directly with active applicants as our plans for summer 2021 become clear. All postings and job offers are, therefore, subject to change.

THE RESOUNDING DEMAND FOR RACIAL EQUITY AND INCLUSION in the American theatre has re-affirmed Williamstown Theatre Festival’s (WTF) commitment to providing meaningful work experience and increased opportunities for early career theatre-makers who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) in its 66-year-old training program. WTF has refashioned its training program with an emphasis on structured learning that presents outstanding opportunities for early career theatre-makers.

As part of an extensive EDI initiative launched in 2019, this year the full-time, year-round staff of WTF participated in training led by artEquity and completed an analysis, through an anti-racism lens, of extant decades-old practices and customs at the Festival; further inspired by the demands of the We See You, White American Theatre, the staff reflected on the current culture of the Festival. Across departments, immediately and in a phased manner ahead, changes will be implemented to continue WTF’s commitment to being an inclusive, equitable, and anti-racist organization.

It is imperative that the Festival focus its efforts on being an equitable, diverse, and inclusive cultural organization, particularly in our Professional Training Program. The work begins now.

Substantive changes to our Professional Training Program and workplace will begin in 2021, and will continue in subsequent years. On this page is an overview of the Professional Training Program and employment opportunities we aim to offer in 2021, if we are able to produce a summer season in light of federal, state, and local guidance around COVID-19.

WTF RECOMMITS TO BEING A WELCOMING, DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE WORKPLACE

1. WTF has implemented new best practices for recruitment and hiring through an anti-racism lens and commits to greater transparency around logistics, compensation, and scope of work for all employment and training opportunities.

2. WTF has grown its Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion training for the year-round team, seasonal staff, and Trustees.

3. With guidance from artEquity, WTF has formed an Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion working group among the year-round staff, which will meet regularly and inform our operations in perpetuity.

4. WTF will invest in human resources by engaging a seasonal Conflict Resolution Manager to keep the Festival accountable.

5. All personnel and Professional Training Program participants will have access to identity-based affinity groups.

Taken together, these actions represent the first piece of a new approach that seeks to foster, at an increased level, a just and anti-racist Professional Training Program and workplace. WTF is committed to building back better and more equitably in 2021 and beyond.

Employment

Tony Award-winning Williamstown Theatre Festival’s summer season offers a variety of education and career advancement opportunities for theatre professionals at all levels of experience. Ranging from supervisory to assistantship positions, WTF staff members and interns engage with some of the top professionals in American theatre. Summer employment opportunities run from June through August.

Williamstown Theatre Festival is committed to telling diverse stories and to fostering an inclusive environment both onstage and off. We are seeking talented artists and administrators from all backgrounds, for all of our educational, professional, and artistic programs.

WTF is an equal opportunity employer.

Learn More About All Available Seasonal Positions Here

Learn More About All Available Year-Round Positions Here

Early Career Black, Indigenous, and People of Color Theatre-makers Program

In partnership, Black Theatre United (BTU) and WTF will run the Early Career BIPOC Theatre-Makers Program, a newly co-conceived and co-executed “work & learn” experience. With the support of a visionary lead gift from the Tiger Baron Foundation, BTU and WTF have built a program that provides each participant with room, board, and a stipend of $2,500. Applicants must be at least 18 years of age and currently enrolled in an educational institution.

Learn More

Internship Program and Scholarships

WTF’s internship program is similar to that which would be given in an educational environment, including the type of hands-on training provided by educational institutions. Internships can be tied to the intern’s formal education program by integrated coursework or the receipt of academic credit and will accommodate the intern’s academic commitments.

The internship’s duration is designed to coincide with the period in which the internship provides the intern with beneficial learning. All internship work complements, rather than displaces, the work of paid employees while providing significant educational benefits to the intern.

The internship is conducted without entitlement to a paid job at the conclusion of the internship.

WTF will run its Internship Program, offering internships in departments across the Festival. In the summer of 2021, while interns will not be compensated, WTF will cover 100% of intern housing costs in WTF provided housing, in addition to providing interns with a stipend of $50 per week to cover additional expenses.

WTF has increased scholarships for participants in our Professional Training Program by 60% in the past six years. WTF recommits to offering multiple Rose Kennedy Scholarships for early career theatre-makers with disabilities, and to making progress in providing holistic accessibility to each recipient.

Learn More About All Available Seasonal Positions Here

Fellowship Program

In 2021, WTF will run its Fellowship Program and name recipients of the J. Michael Friedman, Bill Foeller, and Boris Sagal Fellowships.

More information will follow; please visit this page again.

Acting Opportunities and Apprentice Program

In 2021, WTF will suspend its Apprentice Program and continue to work to reimagine it for the future.

Information regarding non-Equity roles at the Festival in the summer of 2021 will follow; please visit this page again.

Opportunities for Generative Artists

From the L. Arnold Weissberger New Play Award to residencies and readings, WTF offers several opportunities for playwrights, composers, and directors to connect with the Festival, by invitation. WTF does not accept unsolicited submissions; only agents may submit scripts. If you are not represented, you may send information about upcoming readings, workshops, or productions to submissions@wtfestival.org.