Visiting Director - GSU Theatre and Performance Studies

GOVERNORS STATE UNIVERSITY SEEKS DIRECTOR FOR FALL 2023 SEMESTER

Governors State University’s Theatre and Performance Studies program invites applications for a visiting director position for the 2023-24 season, specifically fall 2023.

The undergraduate program in Theatre and Performance Studies (TAPS), launched in 2014, provides students with an innovative and engaged approach to performance. Bridging theory with practice, the verbal with the visual, the major situates performance—from theatrical presentations proper to acts of everyday life—as a transformative agent of social, cultural, political, and personal change. Committed to the art of storytelling, TAPS considers performing the stories of others, as well as of the self, imperative for initiating and sustaining a dialogue of shared human experience across identities, diversities, and desires. Through courses that target performance technique, application, history, analysis, theory, and criticism, the program seeks to create well-rounded students, cultivating creative, critical, collaborative, and compassionate voices that move toward fulfilling careers and meaningful lives.

For more information about our program, visit: https://www.govst.edu/taps/ and https://www.facebook.com/TAPSGSU/.

TAPS produces three large-scale productions per academic year: a fall show in early November, a dance concert in late winter, and a spring show in early April. Some past productions include 12 Angry Jurors, The Scarlet Letter, for colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf, Fat Pig, Eurydice, The Laramie Project, Fahrenheit 451, and A Raisin in the Sun. Current season productions include Cloud 9 and Othello. Productions are staged in one of two venues/configurations: in our proscenium-style 1,100 seat Center for Performing Arts (CPA) or cabaret style with audience seated on the stage of our CPA and a more intimate proscenium stage of approximately 200 seats. We are also open to productions that utilize found space across campus.

Applicants should consider small cast shows (<10); a unit set or minimal scenery; a production relevant to the TAPS mission and the types of socially, culturally, and politically conscious shows already produced; and a text suitable for beginning actors. Our productions are unique for academic theatre insofar as they include not only students, but community members, staff, and faculty as well.

The rehearsal timeframe is 5-6 weeks; 2-3 weeknights and a weekend afternoon, to start, have worked best in the past. Ultimately, the director, upon considering cast availability, is responsible for determining the rehearsal schedule. Directors will work with a stage manager and professional designers. Directors are welcome and encouraged to suggest their own designers, though there is no guarantee that we can hire them.

Applicants outside of the Chicago area will be considered, but lodging will not be provided. Previous experience working with undergraduate students is desired, along with the ability to be flexible and resourceful. Applicants with an MFA/BFA in directing and interest in cultivating connections with the city of Chicago are preferred.

To apply, please prepare the following:

(1) a cover letter (no more than 2 pages) pitching at least two shows, production concept(s), directorial process, and philosophy of working with students

(2) a directing resume with the names and contact information of two professional references

Submissions should be sent electronically to Patrick Santoro, Artistic Director, at psantoro(at)govst(dot)edu. Please use “Visiting Director Position” as the subject line.

Application deadline is February 15, 2023.

Located within easy reach by road and rail to Chicago, Governors State University is the only regional public comprehensive university in Chicago’s south suburban area, serving approximately 5500 students annually. Since its founding in 1969, GSU has offered accessible, high-value educational opportunities to a culturally diverse student body of first-generation students, returning adults, and veterans. For more information about GSU and its mission, visit http://www.govst.edu/.

It is the policy of Governors State University, in its role as educator, employer, and purchaser of goods and services, to provide equal opportunity and affirmative action. Discrimination based on race, color, sex, religion, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or veteran status is strictly prohibited.


Salary: $2500 Stipend