An Intern’s Perspective

Michael DeWhatley (he/him) Ph.D. Candidate in Performance as Public Practice, University of Texas at Austin

How have your internship experiences impacted your life (good and bad)?

I've had six internships at four theatre companies, including one I took 10 years into my career as part of a requirement for a portfolio in my graduate school program. These internships were deeply practical, perfectly designed for people who think that the only way to learn something is by doing it. They led directly to my first paid jobs in theatre and transitioned into a career that had the kind of stability and compensation that most artists and administrators struggle to find. My internships taught me a great deal about self-advocacy, mentorship and the importance of setting personal and professional boundaries. I learned about being the best production manager I could be, how to interact with actors in a rehearsal room, the delicate power balances of artistic collaborators, and how networking (oh, that most nebulous term) could be a source of joy or despair. However, most of these lessons were not taught to me in a proactive way, but were things I picked up piecemeal as I stumbled (at times very badly) through my beginnings. These experiences worked for me, but they didn't work for many of my peers, and internships need to undergo a process of equitable transformation along with the rest of the theatre industry as we search for ways forward.

What do you believe the future of internships should be for our industry?

As I was making a difficult decision about a summer internship, which promised to be unpleasant and at a theatre company known for rigorously exploiting the energy of its interns, I asked for guidance from a mentor. I clearly remember them saying to me, “Well, you can do anything for three months.” I think the future of our industry has to be the creation of internships that: 1) prioritize opportunities for people from historically marginalized communities, 2) are truly dedicated to the education and training of those people, and 3) provide an atmosphere of explorative joy rather than exploitation commiseration. As our industry reimagines these programs, we should focus on sharing and magnifying the enthusiasm and passion of people who are signing up for these internships, rather than throwing cold water on them.

How can companies better face the equity issue of internships?

I'm coming into this conversation as a straight, able-bodied, cisgender, white man, so I'm not sure I have the life experience that is best directed to answer this question. That said, what I have heard in my internship experiences is that compensation, actual mentorship and recruitment strategies need the most transformation, in that order. For internships to be more equitable, they have to provide a living wage for people who are either pausing their academic education or have completed high-level training to do those internships. Full stop. Part of my understanding of equity also involves providing differing and necessary levels of support for people based on where they are in their career journey. This means having mentors who are willing to adapt plans for the season and respectfully work with people who may come into their internships with various levels of knowledge and experience. And of course, recruiting for internships at historically white conferences and job fairs leads to predominantly white candidates. Any other thoughts you would like to share?

I know that some people feel that theatre internships only feed more people into a human meat grinder of an industry, but I believe that internships allow theatres to work with the individuals who may be best situated to provide the new perspectives theatres need to transform themselves into more anti-racist and sustainable organizations. Growing our field means caring for those most excited and ready to join it.

of theatre internships, a number of survey respondents said they expect them to continue as long as theatres work to make internships paying jobs and open the doors to more diversity.

“They will need to make more money – interns no longer have the ability to put their lives on hold to work for the summer for little money,” said Boccanfuso.

Lindsay Schmeling (she/her), resident costume designer and co-intern coordinator at Playhouse on the Square in Memphis, TN, believes theatre internships will continue “as long as they are paying. Unpaid labor can never be justified.”

A theatre working to improve its diversity must ask itself: Is my company’s internship program helping or hurting efforts to improve workplace equality?

One theatre that is working to make a difference in that area is Jobsite Theater in Tampa, FL, which is actively seeking candidates from historically marginalized groups, David M. Jenkins (he/him), producing artistic director, said.

“[Jobsite] provides access to this field with pay, which we hope helps level the playing field and pays dividends in the future,” he said. “We’re finding here locally that the universities and high school theatre programs are not exactly that diverse, and so we’re not seeing those folks come out and into the workforce. We’re also learning that folks from historically marginalized populations do not have access to training programs because of economic reasons: either no tuition money, or if they have the ability to cover tuition, theatre is deemed as a ‘bad idea’ to spend it on … In short, this system, our system, has basically helped create the makeup of the workforce we have, and so the only way to really disrupt that is to try to help be part of the solution.”

Jobsite pays hourly wages, “hopefully training a more diverse workforce,” Jenkins said.

Berman also noted the importance of a livable wage in making it possible for diverse students to pursue internships, saying she hopes “internships will be provided with ample funding so that these learning opportunities are more accessible.”

George Hamrah (he/him), director of production at Orlando Shakespeare Theater, which put its internship program on hold until it’s clear the pandemic is over, thinks it’s only a matter of time before unpaid internships end.

“Internships will evolve into entry-level theatre jobs at an hourly salary,” Hamrah said.

Todd Davison (he/him), artistic director at Maples Repertory Theatre, an Equity theatre in Macon, MO, had a similar vision of internships’ future: “They are a continuing valuable source of people and training, but will be more job-like.”

Meanwhile, Bollinger said he is concerned that as the industry emerges from COVID, there may be backsliding to the “toxic environment” that existed prior to COVID: “Specifically low pay, overworking young students, and poor living conditions. During COVID, I was encouraged by our community taking a stand for adequate compensation and being treated with dignity and respect. As our industry begins to re-saturate with emerging professionals, there’s a concern that theatres will put budgets over human beings. My company refuses to step backwards and will continue to pay our staff a living wage and provide the work-life balance to sustain a staff.” What’s in a name, no more grunt work

Some strongly believe that another key to fixing internships is to return to the original concept of apprentices. Traditionally, an apprenticeship refers to the assignment of a novice to gain in-depth knowledge and hands-on experience under the guidance and direction of an expert. Apprentices aren’t meant for quick, surface-level learning or to sweep floors and make coffee. An apprenticeship is about working on a vocation side-by-side with veteran craftspeople.

Although some companies conflate internships and apprenticeships, the USDOL says the two terms differ, in that internships are usually for a few months, while apprenticeships last a year or more; interns don’t necessarily have a specific training program and a mentor, while apprentices do; apprentices have paid experiences often leading to full-time work, while interns often are unpaid and have no guarantee of a future job; and apprentice programs often lead to a credential, while internships do not.

One surveyed company representative wrote: “I think we’ve already seen a shift from internships to apprenticeships, and that shift will continue. The days of unpaid or hardly paid internships need to come to an end.”

Jobsite Theater is an example of a theatre company that has shifted its programs over time from internships to apprenticeships.

“We call our interns apprentices,” said Jenkins. “This is an apprentice industry. It always has been. ‘Intern’ carries a stigma, well, several stigmas. I don’t think I need to tell anyone what those are.”