Please consider making a philanthropic gift to SpeakEasy Stage. Your donation will help us build and strengthen our community for the next 30 years.
Various positions with the company are open on a rolling basis year around as needed for seasonal, project based, and freelance positions.
SpeakEasy Stage Company is an equal opportunity employer, and we do not discriminate based on race, religion, age, sexuality, gender identification, or physical ability. The company is deeply committed to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility.
FAIRVIEW – FEB 17 – MARCH 11, 2023
WILD GOOSE DREAMS – MAR 17 – APR 8, 2023
THE PROM – MAY 5 – JUN 3, 2023
SpeakEasy is a robust and thriving theatre company with an annual budget of approximately $2 million. Based in Boston’s vibrant, inclusive, and welcoming South End neighborhood, it is a resident company at the prestigious Boston Center for the Arts and the Calderwood Pavilion, where it has been providing loyal audiences transformative theatrical experiences for over 30 years.
SpeakEasy has a reputation for producing shows that tell engaging and thought-provoking, bold stories that spur conversation and community engagement. SpeakEasy is committed to working with Boston-based actors, directors and designers. In this manner, it functions as an irreplaceable anchor for the Boston theater community, providing employment for hundreds of area creatives each year.
The Company has recently refined and strengthened its anti-racist platform, and strives to center the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion at every level of its hiring, staffing, programming, engagement, and board practices. For this position, SpeakEasy welcomes interest from all qualified candidates and strongly encourages the application of individuals identifying as BIPOC, LBGTQIA+, neuro-diverse, and differently-abled.
The Executive Director is a new position created to function as the chief executive of SpeakEasy Stage. This position has been designed to complement the visionary artistic leadership of the organization’s Artistic Director and the talents of a dedicated and energetic staff. The position will function as a dual report with the Artistic Director, to the Board of Directors. This trio will lead the organization into its next chapter of artistic and management excellence.
ABOUT THE ROLE
For over thirty years, SpeakEasy has been led artistically and managerially by its founder and Producing Artistic Director. Recognizing that both roles have increased in scope and complexity as the company has grown, Mr. Daigneault recommended to the Board of Directors that the organization split the artistic and management leadership positions. Contemplating an ambitious future envisioned to include a capital campaign, an amplified community engagement effort, and an opportunity to increase philanthropic support, the Board concurred, and recently voted to create the new role.
DIRECT REPORTS TO THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Reporting to the Executive Director are the following roles:
OVERARCHING RESPONSIBILITIES
Key Responsibilities of the Executive Director are as follows:
SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES
The Executive Director is the senior responsible officer for achievement of results in the areas of marketing, fundraising, finance, operations, and governance. Specific responsibilities of the position include:
PROFESSIONAL AND PERSONAL REQUIREMENTS
LOCATION
SpeakEasy’s office is located in Boston’s South End at 551 Tremont Street; all staff have the option of working one day a week from home.
HEALTH AND SAFETY
Proof of full vaccination against COVID-19 is required (or proof of medical/religious exemption). Employees will also be required to disclose COVID 19 test results for testing provided by the employer or other test suppliers. All employees must adhere to safe and sanitary working conditions as described in the Production Health and Safety Plan.
COMPENSATION
$115,000-$125,000
HOW TO APPLY
Since SpeakEasy strives to become a fully anti-racist organization and has an inclusive and equitable culture, we strongly encourage applicants from historically marginalized communities.
To apply, please upload your resume and cover letter to the online application here.
For questions in advance of applying, please contact us at jobs@speakeasystage.com.
Please click the link below to complete a voluntary demographic census. Responses are anonymous, are not required for employment and are not used in hiring decisions
https://forms.gle/2UvUoWXS8BkqJk1K6
To learn why SpeakEasy asks for this information, please see SpeakEasy’s Equity and AntiRacism Plan here.
APPLICATION DEADLINE
Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Traditional paths to a theatre career can be a maze of twisty passages with no obvious entrance. In the interest of making our hiring more equitable, SpeakEasy is offering this guide to the different positions and the paths to hiring.
Job Postings:
SpeakEasy posts jobs to multiple sources: our web page at www.speakeasystage.com, StageSource at www.stagesource.org, the Boston Theatre Freelance facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/bostontheatrefreelance and Hire Culture www.hireculture.org
We also will send targeted emails to past employees, past job applicants, and people on our list of overhire technicians.
Any person may apply at any time by emailing materials to jobs@speakeasystage.com.
SpeakEasy relies on overhire crew with a variety of technical skills for hourly work. This work is advertised via an internal email list of overhire workers, and also posted to the Boston Theatre Freelance facebook group.
Job Description: We hire these workers during the week immediately prior to public performance when we need many hands to assemble the physical elements of the show. These jobs do not continue during rehearsals or performances. The supervisor is the department head – TD for carpenters/loaders, Master Electrician for electricians, Sound Designer or Audio Supervisor for sound engineers, Props Master for props and craft artisans, and Wardrobe Supervisors and Costume Designers for stitchers.
Compensation: Rates are $17-$20/hour, paid with a 4-hour minimum. That means that if the work call is only one or two hours, the worker is still paid for 4 hours. The “4 hour mini” is an industry standard that makes the travel time worth it though short maintenance or notes calls may be brief in duration.
How to apply: To gain entry to the overhire list, we require an e-mailed resume describing training and past or current jobs in technical theatre, that is descriptive about skills including:
It is common to have multiple areas of expertise listed for one person on the overhire list.
We add technicians with high-school level of skills and experience to the overhire list all the time. While we could not succeed with a crew consisting of all workers of limited skill, there is often room for a variety of skills to round out a crew. Jobs get assigned on the fly and there is room for as-you-go learning of specific tasks.
For this reason it is suggested that the overhire list be the first way to gain employment backstage for skilled work.
To gain access to the overhire list, please send a resume, and we may contact you for a brief phone, video, or in-person interview before adding you to the list.
Job Description: Designers (Sound, Set/Scenic Lighting, Costumes, Sound, Projections/video) are key creative contributors to productions. The job requires a great deal of artistry as well as technical knowledge and practical problem-solving. Designers do a mix of realizing their own design to handing off detailed drawings or specifications to have the design elements build, shopped, or acquired by other workers.
We start with the art first, so in addition to a resume and experience, a portfolio is essential to getting hired as a designer. Portfolios on a publicly accessible website are preferred, but any form that can be easily viewed electronically will work.
How to apply: Designers who are new or unknown to the company usually are hired by scheduling a portfolio review with the Production manager and/or Artistic Director, and then by arranging other short interviews with Directors or other lead artistic staff on a project. These interviews may be by phone or video or in person.
We also accept references from directors, designers, and stage managers who often recommend designers they have worked with in the past.
Compensation: Designers are freelancers, paid a flat fee, starting at $1,500 for mainstage productions. Special projects or second stage productions may start lower. The job is hired as a freelance contractor, with the designer doing most of the creative work at their own studio or residence on their own schedule. Paid as 1099. We hire a mix of union (USA Local 829) and non-union designers. Union designers may receive benefits according to the contract, non-union designers do not receive benefits above the fee.
Costume Designers usually do more hands-on work to realize designs (buying, building, or altering) and are offered additional fee towards that work based on the cast size and period or complexity of the show.
Run crew positions are hired hourly to fill key roles in running and maintaining our productions. We begin by hiring the supervising positions: Wardrobe Supervisors, Stage Managers, and Assistant Stage Managers at the beginning of each season. Based on the needs and budgets of the show, we hire run crew to fit the needs of the show. All crew jobs share in basic maintenance and cleaning of the stage and backstage areas and pre-show prep. Crew do not do building maintenance or specialized work on set, lights, or sound equipment.
Run Crew positions require skills and experience working backstage on live theatre events. We tend to hire with stage management experience for most general crew jobs, but if the production has a special technical element we will look for skilled applicants. Board operators must have some background operating lighting, sound or video systems but are often trained on our particular setup during rehearsals.
Compensation:
Wardrobe Supervisors $17/hr W2 eligible for overtime
Run Crew – $15 per hour W2 eligible for overtime over 40 hours per week
Job Description: All Stage Management jobs and some ASM (Assistant Stage Management jobs) are union positions for SpeakEasy mainstage shows. Stage Managers are hired mostly upon personal recommendation from directors, choreographers, and artistic directors. Stage Management candidates who are new to the company are hired after several in-person or remote job interviews and extensive checks of references. The communication between the stage manager and the director, cast, creative team, and run crew is critical.
How to apply: Assistant Stage Managers are hired as union and non-union depending on the production. ASM candidates often come from resumes submitted directly, by promoting a run crew or overhire employee, or from a personal recommendation from another stage manager or director.
Compensation: Union Stage Managers are paid $550-700 per week salary plus overtime and benefits, with rates set by a Union Collectively Bargained Agreement. Non-union Assistant Stage Managers are paid $15 per hour, eligible for overtime, no benefits, and minimum salary of $250/week.
SpeakEasy stage does not own and operate a theatre full time, so we hire technical department heads on a show-by-show basis, to be resident and working on-site the week prior to opening our shows. For consistency we try to hire for multiple projects. We hire candidates that come to us through resume submission, personal recommendation from other theatres and production managers, and by promoting employees with past experience in Overhire and crew positions.
How to apply: In addition to a resume and reference check, we require several interviews that include in-depth descriptions of past projects and examples of technical abilities as well as people-management skills.
Compensation: Project TD and ME positions are paid a salary starting at $1,600 per show. Props Masters are paid a similar salary OR hourly at $25/hour depending on the complexity of the project.
Please consider making a philanthropic gift to SpeakEasy Stage. Your donation will help us build and strengthen our community for the next 30 years.