Cleveland Public Theatre (CPT) is hiring a Technical Director and Lead Teacher for our nationally recognized Student Theatre Enrichment Program (STEP). This is a seasonal full-time position. Position begins July 5, 2021 and no later than August 15, 2021. Salary range is $650-720/week based on experience and range of skills.

Job Description

CPT is hiring a Technical Director and Lead Teacher for the STEP program (STEP TD). This role reports to the Education Director. The STEP TD leads and supervises a group of teenagers in implementing the set and sound needs for an outdoor touring show, including a basic sound system and a 16’ x 20’ stage. The STEP TD gives 6 hours of daily instruction in technical theatre skills and supervises teens while building scenic elements. The position requires extended hours, in the past as many as 50-60 hours a week. CPT summer programming will include up-to-date safety precautions for artists, staff, and patrons.

Program Description

CPT’s Student Theatre Enrichment Program (STEP) is an arts-based job training program that engages Cleveland teens in a powerful, 8-week intensive (4 weeks for tech-theatre students) that focuses on excellence in performance, play creation, physical theatre, writing, production, and set design/construction. Students ages 14-19, with little or no previous performance experience, are eligible for participation and earn money while learning and practicing valuable job skills such as timeliness, communication, commitment, and teamwork. Under the guidance of CPT artists, teens develop an original play and then tour it to public parks throughout the city of Cleveland. Since its beginning in 1995, STEP has received multiple awards and recognitions, including those from the City of Cleveland, The President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, and the National Endowment for the Arts. STEP is the longest-running arts-based, job-training program in Cleveland and has been utilized as an international model for engaging youth. STEP ensembles, comprised primarily of Black artists, see themselves as a positive and inspirational force and are able to witness their work’s invaluable impact on the larger Cleveland community. Youth are onsite approximately 6 hours a day during creation and more while on tour.

The STEP TD responsibilities inclued:

• Creating curriculum and teaching the basics of sound and stage set up
• Supervising sound and stage set up
• Manage (with teens) a 2-week local tour
• Driving tour truck (small box truck—no special license required)
• Basic set construction
• Collaborating with the full STEP creative team
• Acting as a strong role model for youth

To Apply:

Interested candidates should email a two-page cover letter of interest, a résumé, and references to: Careers@cptonline.org Subject header should read: [LAST NAME], STEP TD.

CPT Staff Description

CPT cares passionately about reflecting our community and pursuing diversity at all levels of the organization. CPT has a demanding work environment with long, intense hours, but we have fun and love what we do. We value hard work, kindness, generosity, passion, and grace-under-pressure. A majority of plays produced at CPT are by Black, Indigenous, and People of Color artists, and in the past three years, CPT has undertaken work to accelerate and formalize its growth to becoming a fully anti-racist organization.

No phone calls, please.

CPT is a nationally recognized center for contemporary performance. Its mission is to raise consciousness and nurture compassion through groundbreaking theatre and life-changing education programs. CPT implements this mission through its annual theatrical season, featuring between eight to ten adventurous professional productions and a robust series of new play development programs that support writers and devisers at multiple points in the creative process. CPT’s acclaimed education programs engage communities in devising new works that speak to contemporary issues and empower participants to work for positive change in our community. CPT is home to resident community ensembles Teatro Público de Cleveland and Masrah Cleveland Al-Arabi, and CPT annually presents Station Hope, a large-scale community arts festival. CPT’s annual budget is around $1.8 million a year. CPT has 16 full-time staff members.