<p>My daughter may have an opportunity as an acting intern for a summer college-hosted Shakespeare festival (two productions). It’s an unusual situation because she is a high school student and the acting internships are set aside for college students. I don’t think she would displace a college student, but may be considered for an additional spot.</p>
<p>I understand every production is different, but what are the typical day-to-day tasks and responsibilities of an acting intern in this setting? I want to prepare her for the interview, and I would like her to be prepared to discuss with the art director how she could contribute to the productions.</p>
<p>Just to note: The festival does also have technical interns, and the spot in question would be specifically for ‘acting’, however, my daughter is willing and eager to be involved in any capacity.</p>
<p>I would assume, but could be wrong, that an acting internship would involve ACTING. Shakespeare has large casts, which need to be filled out with as many people as you can find, usually. I am guessing (and I admit this is a complete guess) that she would be an extra body on the stage.</p>
<p>Shakespeare doesn’t write a lot of parts for women, and the parts he does write for women tend to be very large. So I doubt that a female intern would be given a speaking role. Still guessing, I wonder if she would be taking on some nonspeaking roles, usually an extra lady-in-waiting, or (depending on the play) an extra “lady of the evening”.</p>
<p>In addition, she might be understudying one of the big female roles in each play.</p>
<p>But as I say, I am just guessing here. Since there are distinct “tech” interns I would guess there wouldn’t be any tech work. But maybe she would be sortof a “tech-intern-who-also-appears-on-stage”?</p>
<p>My daughter (who had just finished her freshman year) was an acting intern with a Shakespeare company last summer and had a wonderful time. She was in a non-Shakespeare production, btw. The company runs two shows each summer and one is usually not Shakespeare. </p>
<p>On stage she had a variety of roles, from townsperson to named characters. She did have some lines and “bits” so that was a lot of fun. She was also responsible for a lot of moving of sets, taking care of props, etc. Basically, wherever there was a need she was the go-to kid. So she worked her butt off. She was waitressing during the day and rehearsing/performing in the evenings so I think she got a real taste of the acting life. </p>
<p>They also ran several workshops in different aspects of theater for the interns so that was a nice bonus.</p>
<p>Overall, it was a fantastic experience, she learned a lot and made some great connections. She really learned a lot from the other members of the company and has stayed in touch with them. From her experience I expect the main thing your daughter can show is that she is eager, hard-working and able to take direction, both as an actress and a go-fer. Good luck to her!</p>