Apprentice Company

The Atlanta Shakespeare Company at The Shakespeare Tavern® Playhouse offers an Apprenticeship for post-education, professional actors. Auditions are held each spring and we also attend the annual Unified Auditions, organized by the Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts (www.atlantaperforms.biz for more info on the Unifieds.)

Audition and callback dates will be posted here on our Auditions page. Please check this page periodically for that updated information. Please, no inquiries until that specific information is posted.

Our 2018-2019 Apprentice Company

• Patty de la Garza
• Nick Reid
• Danielle Hopkins
• Emily Russ
• Kenny Petroski
• Alyson Swann
• Alexandra Pica
• Sariel Toribio

Atlanta Shakespeare Apprentice Company FAQ’s

Q: What does “a paid position” mean, exactly?

A: Apprentices may work as little as 10 hours and potentially more than 20 hours a week at various times throughout their term, onstage, backstage, in classes and rehearsals. Paid calls include matinee work calls (concessions, running lights, ASM’ing), administrative work calls, as well as performance in shows. A number of paid hours will be spent rehearsing and touring two TYA shows, “Shakespeare: The Language That Shaped A World” and “Shakespeare 4 Kids: Romeo and Juliet” as well as teaching the associated “Playshops In Performance.”

Q: Do I get paid every time I am in the building?

A: Nope. 75% of your time as an Apprentice will be spent training, studying, rehearsing, learning, discovering and doing all things “Shakespeare”. You don’t get paid for text acting classes, movement, stage combat classes, some training, etc. Just the above mentioned work calls.

Q: Can I do other shows during my Apprenticeship.

A: Nope. Once you start as an Apprentice you represent the Tavern and your theatre work is limited to the Tavern. Don’t worry, we’ll keep you busy. By the end of the Apprenticeship you will be able to audition for shows that start after your Apprenticeship ends and all Apprentices are required to apply to the Unified Auditions ([url=http://www.atlantaperforms.biz]http://www.atlantaperforms.biz[/url] for more info) that happen in the spring each year.

Q: What if I have never performed Shakespeare in my life? Do I have to be a total Shakespeare geek to audition?

A: Nope. We look for outstanding and talented actors first, and Shakespeare geeks second. Brownie points for being a geek, however!

Q: Can I support myself with only what I get paid as an Apprentice?

A: Probably not. Most Apprentices also work as waiters, baristas, temp staff, bookstore employees, etc. Anything that is flexible (the Tavern won’t work around your other job schedule) and will put more money in your pocket. We provide an entire month’s schedule two weeks in advance of the start of that month for you to show other jobs.

Q: What happens after my Apprenticeship ends? Do I get to keep working at ASC?

A: It depends although probably not. A lot of former Apprentices have gone on to found their own theatre companies, work at other Atlanta theaters, go to NYC or LA, or work in movies. They sometimes end up at the Tavern in artistic staff positions, acting in main stage shows in major and minor roles and teaching extensively in our massive education programs.

Q: What is a resident theatre ensemble actor?

A: It’s an actor that works at the Tavern. We dedicate a lot of resources to training, hiring and retaining talented actor/managers in our company. Many actors nowadays travel from theatre to theatre and from state to state. They spend a lot of creative energy looking for the next role or the next job. We believe that ASC can give back to the Atlanta community, and make more jobs for actors by supporting an actor’s whole being. We employ the whole actor, their acting skills being most important, but by also acknowledging that talented professionals have other skills and can contribute to the whole company all year ‘round.

Fact Sheet on the Apprentice Company

Classes, rehearsals and work calls are a combination of daytime and evening, weekday and weekend hours. A flexible schedule is an ABSOLUTE must. Please take a look at the sample schedules provided at callbacks. This is a major time commitment.

At Apprentice Company callbacks in May a sample schedule and more in-depth information will be available.

What we do for you:

Classes in, but not limited to:

• Linklater voice progression
• Movement for Shakespeare’s text
• Personal connection to Shakespeare’s language
• Structure of the Verse and Text work in monologue and scenes
• Elizabethan dance and Madrigal singing
• Original Practice methods and madness
• The Business of Theatre and Marketing Yourself
• Alexander Technique
• General Theatre history
• Stage Combat: hand to hand and weapons
• Elizabethan worldviews and Shakespeare’s England
• Status, Clown and Mask
• Master classes with Atlanta’s theatre professionals
• Light board operations
• Development and Running a Theatre Company

Also:

• Performance in our Shakespeare plays.
• Understudying
• Teaching Education "Playshops"
• Hands on work with: Artistic Associates, Apprentice Company Director, Artistic Director, Managing Director, Fight Choreographers, Costume and Lighting designers, and guest artists from the regional community.

What you do for us:

Matinee work calls: Tuesdays and Wednesdays throughout the season-Apprentices working in teams of two will be performing or working front-of-house jobs at most matinees. House duties include seating students, pre-show house management, cleaning, and concessions during intermission. Post-show clean up and maintenance as well as running light board and some backstage management. Tuesday and Wednesday days are the daytime hours you should always have available during the season, but daytime hours are not limited to those days only. Most scheduling is done on a month-by-month basis.

General work calls: Scheduled thru out the season- cleaning, moving sets and costumes, cleaning, sorting, polishing, cleaning, paperwork, cleaning, organizing, assisting Costumer at costume parades, volunteering in the house for shows, cleaning after shows, show strikes and various marketing, club and education mailings through out the year. Cleaning.

Rehearsal calls: Holding book for Stage management, pre-rehearsal cleaning and set up. Coffee making and gofering of props. General support for Stage management and Artistic Staff at rehearsals. Rehearsing your show.