Production Intern

Company Overview

Carousel Players is an award-winning professional theatre company for young audiences based in St. Catharines, Ontario. We are committed to the development of new work and the production of theatre that entertains and challenges our audiences. We present inspiring and creative plays for children in theatres, schools and other performance venues. We ensure that our performances, summer theatre school, and outreach programs can be accessed by all children and families regardless of their socio-economic background. We believe live theatre develops artistic awareness, learning skills and a sense of well-being in children.

Our Values 

• Professionalism: We are committed to a consistent, professional quality of work and maintaining our reputation for artistic excellence.
• Respect: We strive to be sincere, respectful and playful in our relationships with children and their caregivers.
• Ideas: We are eager to share, explore and stimulate new ideas.
• Appreciation: We like to show appreciation for our friends in the world around us.
• Responsibility: We strive to be a helpful colleague and good citizen in our discipline (theatre for young audiences), in our field (performing arts) and in our community (the Niagara Region).
• Legacy: We are dedicated to making all our children’s first exposure to professional theatre a playful, enlightening and memorable experience.
• Balance:  We are committed to helping employees achieve a healthy balance between their personal and professional life.

Our Programs 

Carousel Players specializes in making and teaching theatre for young people. Our core activities are producing two to four plays a year for school and public audiences; working with artists to create new plays for young audiences; and providing arts education to young people ages 4-14.

Carousel Players creates two or more touring theatre productions each year for audiences in elementary schools. These tours travel to school gyms and community venues in the Niagara, Hamilton, Halton, Wentworth, and Brant Regions. We frequently tour outside of Southern Ontario and brought shows to BC, Saskatchewan, and Northern Ontario in the past five years.

Carousel Players provides arts education programs throughout the year through our Theatre School, which offers artist-lead programs at five locations the Niagara Region. The Theatre School also works with elementary schools to provide After School Drama classes and the Playlinks workshop program at schools across the Region. All of Carousel Players’ arts education programs have curriculums of play-based learning that were developed with guidance from members of Brock University’s Teacher Education faculty.

Job Description

Carousel Players, Niagara’s professional theatre for young audiences, is accepting applications for the position of Festival Production Intern. This is a part-time (20 hours per week), contract position based in St Catharines from October 12, 2023 – March 31, 2024. The salary for this position is $400 per week ($20/hr). This position is funded, in part, by the Cultural Human Resources Council Student Work Placement Program. Interested candidates must:

• Be a student enrolled in a recognized Canadian post-secondary education institution (university, college, CEGEP, polytechnic)
• Be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident or a person to whom refugee protection has been conferred under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
• Be legally entitled to work in Canada in accordance with provincial/territorial legislation and regulations

Carousel Players will be creating a new festival of Theatre for Young Audiences in the spring of 2024. The Niagara Children’s Festival will be a multi-day event featuring performances and family activities taking place in three locations in the Niagara Region. The Festival Production Intern will work with both the Artistic Director and General Manager of the company on the programming and planning of the Niagara Children’s Festival.

KEY DUTIES INCLUDE:

• Assisting in devising Festival plans for Operations, Programming, and Community Engagement.
• Assisting in preparing Festival-specific project grants and sponsorship applications
• Assisting in creating and implementing communications and marketing plans for the Niagara Children’s Festival
• Assisting in the human resource planning to recruit, train, and schedule the staff and volunteers of the Niagara Children’s Festival
• Acting as the primary contact person for the artists of the Niagara Children’s Festival during the internship
• Developing community engagement activities for the Niagara Children’s Festival under the direction of the Artistic Director and General Manager.

An ideal candidate for this position would:

• be an emerging theatre artist with a love for theatre and an interest in artistic producing and/or arts administration.
• be enrolled in a theatre training program, possibly with a concentration in arts administration or technical production.
• have some experience in planning and producing theatre and/or community events,
• have some experience in working with young people.

Other qualities and skills that are not required but are considered an asset:

• Project and/or event management experience
• Knowledge of the Niagara Region’s geography and communities
• Familiarity with Mailchimp, WordPress, and/or graphic design software
• Access to reliable transportation
• Volunteer or employment experience in the performing arts