Call for Submissions: Langham Directors’ Workshop

Company Overview

Based in Stratford, Ontario, the Stratford Festival is one of the world’s foremost repertory theatre companies. It operates year round, presenting a season of about a dozen plays each year between the months of April and November, a rich stream of digital content and hundreds of Forum events, designed to deepen understanding of the plays. For every person a theatregoer sees on our stages, we have seven people working behind the scenes, some of the world’s most dedicated and experienced arts workers. At this time we are undergoing a culture shift to support anti-racism and anti-oppression in all areas of our work, including play selection, casting, marketing and public relations efforts, education programs, production, recruitment of staff and volunteers, and the composition of the Board of Directors. Members of equity deserving groups are always encouraged to apply.

Job Description

June 28, 2023 – Call for submissions from Canadian directors for 2024

The Langham Directors’ Workshop

Michael Langham – Artistic Director of the Stratford Festival, 1956-1967

The Langham Directors’ Workshop offers our country’s most promising directors an unmatched opportunity to develop skills that will enable them to create vibrant productions that reveal their own unique voice within a variety of genres.

– Antoni Cimolino, Artistic Director, Stratford Festival

The Langham Directors’ Workshop wants to nurture exciting directorial talent and provide you with the resources to explore, play and hone your craft. We want to help you create inspired and boundary-pushing work, not only for our stages but for your career and beyond. We offer emerging and mid-career directors the opportunity to explore innovative Shakespeare and classical works, lead large-scale productions at one of the largest stages in the country, and birth new plays with Canada’s finest playwrights. Throughout these explorations, we hope to provide mentorship opportunities, help grow your networks and provide a space for authentic creative exploration. We aim to give you practical knowledge of the workings of this Festival and hope to see your work on our stages in the near future. It is our expectation that:

• Participants will work as Assistant or Associate Directors on Festival productions. (Responsibilities may include assisting on understudy rehearsals and attending additional design and production meetings before the official residency in Stratford.)
• Participants will attend regular group meetings during the season from guest artists and talk with fellow Langham participants and program alumni.
•           Participants will take part in an intensive during the season and near the end of October, consisting of seminars, panel discussions, and other creative workshops to help prepare them for working at theatres like the Stratford Festival. 
• Participants will create a final presentation where they will choose and direct a scene/project that best represents their aesthetic. The Directors’ Workshop Presentations are usually held in the Studio Theatre in November (three weeks).

Application guidelines and more information are available at: stratfordfestival.ca/AboutUs/DirectorTraining

We extend our thanks to the Department of Canadian Heritage. This program is made possible in part by the Government of Canada.  The Langham Directors’ Workshop is sponsored by RBC Emerging Artists.

At this time we are undergoing a culture shift to support anti-racism and anti-oppression and ensure a respectful, equitable and inclusive environment in which all staff, artists and audience members can feel a true sense of belonging.

Applications are due Friday, August 4, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. EST.

Esther Jun, Director of the Langham Directors’ Workshop                               

langham@stratfordfestival.ca                                          

Bonnie Green, Associate Producer

1.800.561.1233 ext 2290