Professor - Drama jobs in Southwick, MA

Theater Teacher/Director: Advanced Courses

The Drama Studio is seeking an Associate Artistic Director with skills both in theater education and directing productions.

What is The Drama Studio? Why you should work here:

The Drama Studio is an exciting, challenging, and deeply enriching conservatory for young artists. Many students think of the Studio as their second home. Our teaching artists have the opportunity to work with passionate and dedicated youth at introductory through advanced theater levels. The work is creative, thought provoking, and rewarding. Join us, and help young actors find their voices and discover their passions!

The Drama Studio's Mission:

Our mission is to enrich and validate the youth experience in our diverse community via excellence in a conservatory-style acting training program. As part of this mission, we seek to increase reading and writing proficiency rates among local elementary school students through unique and innovative literacy-focused outreach initiatives.

Position Description

Lead Teacher

Lead teacher for some or all the following courses: Introduction to Acting, Scene Study, Improv, Stage Combat, Acting Shakespeare, Theatre Styles, Contemporary Theatre, Acting for Adults, and Playwriting. Applicants’ unique specialties are also of interest, and suggestions for additional class topics are welcome.

Schedule: Classes meet once a week for 90 minutes either on weekday evenings or on Saturdays, and run September - early May, with a final festival of work in early May.

Teaching Responsibilities include:

• Lead instructor for a series of advanced theater courses throughout the school year
• Curriculum development and lesson planning
• Communication with families and staff
• Presenting and leading student sharing of work for guests at the end of each semester
• Developing a presentation for the end of year showcase Cabaret and supporting actors during performances
• Coordinating class scheduling for Cabaret performance
• Regular communication with Director of Conservatory, including end of the semester evaluations
• Coordination with all teaching staff and Director of Conservatory for course development, and student placement in next year’s courses

Artistic Director

Artistic Director for two mainstage productions, one in November and one in March, and for one act plays in two student-written festivals in February and June. All productions are staged in our black box theater for 65 seat capacity.

Directing Responsibilities Include:

• Developing and executing a creative vision for scripts chosen in coordination with other staff
• Collaborating with producers and designers regarding scenic, lighting, costume, and other technical elements
• Directing student actors with the goal of providing an enriching and educational experience while also maintaining a high artistic standard
• Working with and supervising student stage managers
• Working with staff to create a rehearsal schedule
• Holding multiple rehearsals a week (3-5 week rehearsal period for festivals, 5-6 weeks for mainstage)
• Running all auditions and making casting decisions
• Attending regular production meetings

Candidate will:

• Work within budgeted production funds
• Work with student SM/ASMs
• Communicate production concepts clearly and in a timely manner
• Develop a production vision that demonstrates an understanding of Drama Studio’s mission and goals.

Skills/Requirements

The ideal candidate has experience with theater education and curriculum development for youth, enjoys working creatively with kids and teens, and is capable of and comfortable finding material suitable for young actors as well as working with students on the development of original work.

• A bachelor’s degree or higher in theatre, education, related discipline, and/or special education
• Experience working with students on collaboratively written original material
• Experience working with a diverse student population drawn from a broad range of cultural, religious, socioeconomic, gender identities, and political backgrounds
• Experience working with neurodivergent students
• Experience finding and selecting plays that highlight the experiences of young characters and provide fulfilling and challenging opportunities for our student actors (previous productions have included contemporary plays such as The Wolves and She Kills Monsters, classical plays such as Antigone, Metamorphoses, and Romeo & Juliet, and children’s classics like Pinocchio and The Secret Garden)

Preferred Qualifications:

• Bilingual (Spanish / Vietnamese) an advantage
• Experience with community collaboration and family engagement
• Experience with technical elements of theatre, such as lighting design and a familiarity with QLab

Compensation

Compensation is commensurate with experience and qualifications and can be discussed during interviews.

Directing Minimum $1500 per mainstage, $850 per one act

Teaching Minimum $40/hour

The Drama Studio is an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourages applications from all candidates. The Drama Studio does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identification, national origin, ethnicity, ancestry, veteran status, socioeconomic status, or disability unrelated to performance of the position. We are LGBTQ friendly, and we actively explore ways that we can grow as an anti-racist organization.

What is a Theatre Conservatory?

The Drama Studio was founded in 1987 as an institution where youth could study acting as seriously as they could study music, supported by a carefully designed curriculum, productions of quality scripts, and a strong scholarship program to ensure opportunity for all. The term “conservatory-style” was used to describe a two-part process: first, a series of acting classes, offered sequentially from introductory to advanced levels, that would permit acting students to grow in their craft over a period of years, and second, a series of production opportunities that would allow students to audition, rehearse and perform at the same level of quality operating in the classroom. Additionally, our outreach programs bring our conservatory approach to foster literacy in our Springfield Public School partnerships.

To apply please send cover letter, resume and a brief description of your teaching philosophy to hr@dramastudio.org.

Job Types: Part-time, Contract

Pay: $18.00 - $50.00 per hour

Expected hours: 10 – 15 per week

Schedule:

• After school

Work setting:

• In-person

Education:

• High school or equivalent (Required)

Experience:

• Directing: 1 year (Required)

Ability to Commute:

• Springfield, MA 01108 (Required)

Ability to Relocate:

• Springfield, MA 01108: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: In person