Shakespeare & Company's 2025 Women Of Will Directing Fellowship Accepting Applications

Shakespeare & Company of Lenox, Mass., is presenting the return of the Tina Packer Women of Will Directing Fellowship, launched in 2024 to further the development of early-career directors who identify as women and have a passion for Shakespeare.

Created in honor of Shakespeare & Company's Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer, the fellowship was conceived and funded by actor and Shakespeare & Company training alumnus John Douglas Thompson, with matching funds from an anonymous donor. Additional gifts were also made by a group of women directors whom Packer mentored at Shakespeare & Company.

"Fellows will join in creating a legacy of Women of Will mentoring others in the field, bringing a contemporary and culturally diverse female gaze to Shakespeare's plays and the theater community," said Thompson.

The Women of Will Fellow is in residence at Shakespeare & Company during the summer rehearsal period of a Shakespeare production helmed by an experienced woman director, both observing and serving as Assistant Director throughout the process. The Fellow receives a stipend, housing, and travel reimbursement.

Following their time at Shakespeare & Company, Fellows continue to receive support through continued access to their Mentor Director, the members of an advisory committee of women directors, and other members of the Company.

The inaugural Fellow was Lauren Davis of Baltimore, Md., who assisted director Kate Kohler Amory with the production of The Comedy of Errors, and observed Packer directing a staged, enhanced reading of The Winter's Tale.

The 2025 Women of Will Fellow will assist and observe the production of The Taming of the Shrew, co-directed by Packer and Artistic Director Allyn Burrows. Fellowship dates are Monday, July 21 through Saturday, August 16.

While there are no specific degree requirements for this Fellowship, applicants will have completed their academic training and will have directed outside of an academic program for at least three years. They should have a demonstrated interest in directing Shakespeare, and some experience doing so. Candidates currently enrolled in graduate degree programs may apply if they will receive their degree by June, and meet the other criteria. Undergraduates, including seniors, are not eligible. Candidates from historically underrepresented groups are encouraged to apply. So are directors who have previously worked in other areas of the theater, or who have reentered the field after a pause, if they meet the other criteria. "Early-career director" does not imply an age limit.

Directors who meet the selection criteria are invited to apply no later than Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025. A full description and application guidelines can be found at shakespeare.org.

Photo Caption: Inaugural Women of Will Directing Fellow Lauren Davis and Shakespeare & Company's Founding Artistic Director Tina Packer at the Rose Footprint Theatre on the Shakespeare & Company campus in 2024. Photo by Eran Zelixon.

About Tina Packer

Tina Packer is the Founding Artistic Director of Shakespeare & Company. She has directed most of Shakespeare's plays, acted in seven, and taught the entire canon at multiple colleges and universities, among them Harvard, MIT, and Columbia. Packer was an Associate Artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company and worked at the Royal Court and Aldwych Theatres in London, Leicester, Glasgow, Edinburgh, and other regional theaters, as well as for BBC and ITV television. Her original performance piece Women of Will has traveled across America as well as internationally. Packer resides in Stockbridge, Mass.

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