Summer Jobs

Interested in supporting professional theater? Are you age 14 to 22? Can you work 15 hours per week? The salary is $15 an hour for approximately $1,500 for the summer. We have 3-4 positions available.

How to apply

Prepare a document containing:

• Contact information,
• Age as of June 1, 2025,
• Previous theater related experience,
• Goals relating to future studies or a career in the theater arts at the college or professional level, and
• A personal artistic statement.

Email your completed document to learningstage@festival56.com with the subject “Apprentice.”

Note: If you worked for Festival 56 in a previous year and didn’t turn in all the required paperwork in 2024, you will not be considered for this position.

The application deadline is midnight on May 1, 2025.

Job Description

Responsibilities will be tailored to the individual and may include opportunities in the costume shop, prop shop, with education (Shakespeare in the Park, Camp 56, and Meet the Plays), in lighting, sound, set construction, and in the box office.

• Each person will have a mentor to tailor their personal unique summer experience. Skills needed in 2025 may include:
• Carpenters – skilled enough to use typical power tools, follow instructions on simple to mid-level building projects,
• Painters – skilled (texture, detail, distressing, wood flooring, etc.) and unskilled (priming and base coats),
• Stitchers – sewing skills of any level (hand sewing, buttons, trim, alterations, machine use, etc., and
• Box Office – learning the ticketing software and having excellent customer service skills.

Employment Location

The activities primarily take place at The Grace Theatre, 316 S. Main St., Princeton, IL. This building houses the costume shop, box office, theater (including sound and lighting equipment), and concessions. Other locations (within walking distance of the theater) include the annex which houses the props department and carpentry shop, the public park (for Shakespeare in the Park), the rehearsal spaces, and a facility for our youth camp.

This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.