Thank you for your interest in Island Shakespeare Festival! Our mission is to provide accessible classical theatre, realized for a contemporary audience.
We seek company members who are ready and willing to bring a positive and collaborative attitude to the uniquely challenging process of outdoor rotating repertory theatre. ISF is committed to intersectional inclusion and representation, and we are actively working to dismantle systems of oppression in our organization and the work we share. We seek to build an ensemble who will embrace and enhance these values.
About ISF: ISF is a Pay-What-You-Will company located on rural Whidbey Island, north of Seattle. Whidbey is the ancestral home of Coast Salish peoples including the Swinomish, Snohomish, Suquamish, and Lower Skagit tribes, who were forcibly relocated with the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott. This video will tell you a little about the ISF ethos and experience. You can view photos from past seasons here, and learn more about who we are on our Facebook page and Instagram.
We do not yet offer AEA contracts, but intend to in the future. If you're AEA, we encourage you to sign up for updates.
Housing and Pay: Visiting artists are housed locally in home-stays. Collaborators are paid an hourly rate averaged over the contract, with even disbursements bi-weekly. For our 2023 season, actors cast in both productions are paid a pre-tax rate of $400 per week. The term of the contract is (roughly) 13 weeks. ISF offers a modest travel reimbursement stipend for visiting artists.
Our Casting Ethos:
We believe classic theatre belongs to everyone, and we strive for inclusion and representation of the scope of humanity in our audiences and in our company. We recognize that as a classical theatre company, we primarily produce plays written from a narrow cultural perspective in a very different historical context from our own. We believe the expanse of humanity available in these plays transcends those contexts and we are determined to define space in these stories for the rich variety of humans and experiences that exist in our world today. We invite all artists to submit for opportunities and roles that ignite their creative spirit.
We recognize that most characters we encounter in classic theatre are on the binary and are written with he/him or she/her pronouns. We invite gender non-conforming, gender queer, transgender, and non-binary actors to submit for all roles with which they most identify, and which ignite their creative spirit. We will specify when characters have specific gender criteria.
We seek to represent all races and ethnicities on our stage and in our company and invite actors of all racial and ethnic identities to submit for all roles that ignite their creative spirit. We will specify when characters have specific racial/ethnic criteria.
We invite actors who identify as differently abled and/or disabled to submit for all roles which ignite their creative spirit. We will specify if characters have specific ability criteria.
We believe the characters that exist in these stories may be portrayed by any and everyone, and invite actors of all body shapes and sizes to submit for all roles that ignite their creative spirit. We will specify if characters have specific physical criteria.
Please let us know if you have any questions or concerns, or if there are any accommodations we can provide.
Inspired by language developed by Kevin Kantor (they/them) and Emily Tarquin (they/them), adapted for our casting process by Olena Hodges (she/her) with contributions from Kyle Haden (he/him), Ada Karamanyan (she/her), Mickey Rowe (he/him), K. Woodzick (they/them), and others.
Casting Considerations:
We aim to cast at least 50% returning collaborators (from any season)
We aim to cast over 50% folks who identify with communities who've historically been excluded from American and Classical stages (Global Majority, Trans and Non-Binary, Disabled, and other historically marginalized identities)
We take into serious consideration submission form answers to ensure a compatible ensemble who share individual alignment with the core values of ISF
We aim to cast actors in both productions, which means compromise and negotiation among all members of the casting team.