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For more information please visit our website http://webensemble.mit.edu/ensemble
Long
The Interview
The interview will be in two parts. To begin with, there will be a Q&A session with members of the ensemble about your experience, your preferences in about shows and your 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.
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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 selected 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.
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A complete list can be found at at http://webensemble.mit.edu/ensemble/www/shows/index.php
Audition/Casting Policy
Auditions for the show are open preferentially to members of the MIT community but also to outside actors if the need arises. 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).
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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. Production staff, as such, is very busy in addition to regular school work.
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. You may ask to view the room when is appropriate for you.
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.
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