Playwriting Project

From Verhanika, Production Management Intern

This past Friday was the second of two days of the Playwriting Project. A short synopsis: 2 local high schools with higher level drama programs write their own short plays, rehearse with our teaching artists, and then get to perform on the Leo K stage. They get to use our props, our costumes, our professional crew, and our talented interns.

The project started out as something I brushed off. I felt like I was going to be a secretary and a babysitter since I was responsible for generating some paperwork and moving tech along. After a great conversation with Michelle, the Education Intern and a producer on this project, she empowered me to treat it like another one of the Rep’s productions and to make it my own.

With this in mind, I moved forward and led our team of props coordinators, costumers, stage managers, and support staff to create some pretty decent theatre. There were a few hiccups along the way as we overcame snow and cancelled meetings, miscommunications, and a variety of management styles, but overall the experience was incredibly positive and rewarding. As the only opportunity to actually Production Manage within the Rep, I became determined to make it the best and most rewarding for me personally. It was an opportunity to flex my management muscle and give it a good workout.

I’ve already started my cheat sheet for next year’s intern so they don’t walk in like I do, feeling like everyone else is holding on to the secret of making this project smooth, but just not sharing.

There are some places that you definitely do not get to be a production manager. Union rules are something that the staff is more familiar with than you, so learning to step back and let them deal with that is a huge part of this project. Also, even though you have that title, other interns do not work for you as it would be in professional theatre. Therefore, even though I was encouraged to use it, I never pulled the “because I’m the Production Manager, and that’s why” card because it would prove to alienate my fellow interns, rather than empower them to work together with me.

I learned a lot and found this incredibly rewarding, but I sure am glad it’s over. Another day with high schoolers may have forced me to pull out the hard liquor around lunch time. Needless to say, the staff did celebrate afterwards with well deserved martinis.

Aside from the Playwriting Project, which did take up a large portion of my time, I have been updating my cover letter and resume and starting to apply for jobs after the internship. Having the support of the four women who work in my immediate pod is amazing. I passed around my cover letter and resume and got help wordsmithing e-mails to Seattle Production Managers. I have to admit, I am a bit terrified of how our chances of getting positions after our internships has significantly decreased due to the current state of the economy.

The second half of the internship should prove to be interesting since I now know my job and can focus more on my role within the Rep and how I feel about a career as a theatre artist. I’ll let you know how it goes.