Starting a Blog is:

exciting but kind of scary. I suppose it makes the whole start of my internship oddly formal and official. It solidifies the beginning of something I've been planning for months and wanting to do for ages before that.

I am interning with Dog & Pony Theatre Company- a small, but successful ensemble in Chicago. They were voted Chicago's Best Theatre Troupe by Chicago Magazine. Though in my search for a Chicago theatre to intern with I highlighted that I wanted to work with a new, up and coming theatre ensemble, as John Blick, a Dog & Pony producer and actor noted, they've more so "up-and-came." Dog & Pony has been doing some absolutely amazing work that is, really, as my mom would say, right up my alley. They do a lot of devised theatre: where an ensemble or director chooses an inspiration such as a piece of literature, an idea, or an object, and forms a script and a play based on research and ensemble work around that muse. I directed a devised piece last year and I am so very very intrigued by this style of theatre.

The term intern is so very loose. Who knows what I'll actually be doing. I have a somewhat sketchy outline of my responsibilities. I will be working with the marketing and production teams on the original play The Twins Would Like to Say. I will be assisting in the distribution of 15,000 postcards (coded based on where they are given out) to various pre-selected venues around the city. I will also help develop ways to promote the show. I have also been given full access to the Dog & Pony rehearsal process. I can read their blog for the show- which explains every rehearsal they have had- detailing the creation of the play as well as the rehearsal process with a developed script. I am also allowed to attend any/all of the current rehearsals. Pretty much-- it's kind of like a fairy tale dream for me.

I want to catalogue my experience as an intern, what I hope to take away from it, what my actual findings are, the jobs I am assigned, my reactions: dreams, concerns, all of it. And, maybe most importantly, I want to find out what working in this setting is like. I do hope to one day open up my own theatre company or be a part of an existing one. So this is pretty heavy career exploration.

So now that the preface is done so that whomever is reading this whether it be: my mother, my friends, or (most likely) plain old me, myself, and I, will be aware of what my motivations for creating said blog are.

On with the show :)