July 11, 2007

ROLE OF ARTISTIC DIRECTOR NO LONGER ENDANGERED

Auckland Theatre Company is thrilled to announce that with the support of a Creative New Zealand Theatre Internship Fund grant, its Artistic Director Intern Programme (ADIP) will commence in 2008.

The ADIP is a unique opportunity for a mid-career theatre director to work with New Zealand’s leading artistic director, Colin McColl, in a customised development programme at Auckland Theatre Company. 

Colin McColl says: "In New Zealand to date, new Artistic Directors have essentially been thrown into the deep end – they sink or swim – often trying to define their position, whilst managing the day to day responsibilities on the fly. It is a collective concern of the professional theatre sector that there is a shortage of suitably skilled and experienced practitioners who can step up into the role of Artistic Director within established theatre companies, Auckland Theatre Company’s Artistic Director Internship Programme is a visionary step towards preparing and nurturing this country’s future theatre leaders."

The ADIP is specifically designed to respond to the needs of the intern while also delivering a structured learning programme.  During their 6 month internship, the successful applicant will also develop their own project for Auckland Theatre Company. 

Chief Executive of Creative New Zealand, Stephen Wainwright, says:  "The role of Artistic Director is huge.  In addition to defining a company’s creative direction, the Artistic Director directly informs the business operation of the company. Creative New Zealand recognises an internship programme is one of the most effective means for providing the real world experiences that underpin the training and development of practitioners keen to become Artistic Directors. The Theatre Internship Fund was established following consultation with the theatre sector last year which identified a clear need for work experience based career development."

The internship is for an intensive six month period, February – July 2008 and Auckland Theatre Company aims to attract a mid-career theatre Director who is hungry to develop their artistic and management skills into the future.

The first phase of the selection process is contestable through a publicly advertised call for ‘expressions of interest’.  Details will be announced later in the year.