Etkin thrives at Williamstown Theatre’s apprenticeship program

Nov. 16, 2017 | Payton North
payton@thereminder.com

LONGMEADOW –  Each year Williamstown Theatre in Williamstown hosts college students for a ten-week intensive acting apprenticeship program. Longmeadow resident and UMass Amherst senior, Sarah Etkin, secured a spot at the theater over this past summer, and was able to grow as an actress and learn from her experience.

Etkin found out about the Williamstown Theatre program from a fellow UMass student.

“He told me that it was very demanding.  I noticed he’d gone through a transformation during his time at Williamstown.  He was more prepared and ready for the acting world,” Etkin said.  

Seeing that her friend’s abilities had come so far, Etkin realized the apprenticeship was one that she wanted.  Etkin submitted her application, which was completely written with no audition.  The application required a headshot, a resume, a base application and two written essays.  The essays asked why the applicant wanted to be in the program, and the second is to explain which era of theater is the applicant’s favorite, and why.

When asked what her responsibilities during her time at the Williamstown Theatre, Etkin said, “It’s probably easier to say, what weren’t my responsibilities?”

She explained, “As an acting apprentice, you assist the Theatre Festival in all festival operations.  Every night you receive a schedule that highlighted your activities for the next day.  The first few weeks started out with tutorials and workshops on the various tasks we’d be assigned in the festival.”        As the summer went on, Etkin took on more and more responsibilities at the theatre.  She would be assigned to “load in” and “load out” shifts, which took place from 11 p.m. on Sunday nights to 9 a.m. Monday mornings.  One of Etkin’s favorite tasks to complete over the summer, was to go on drives all over the northeast to pick up props, costumes and set pieces for various productions, as the design interns needed to construct sets each day.

“Along with those tasks, we also assisted the front of House staff in selling merchandise, taking tickets and customer service for our patrons.  Throughout the day, we’d also be scheduled for Master Classes in several areas of theatre,” she said. “On top of all of this, we’d also get opportunities to perform for the directing interns, and possibly for the larger productions.”

While Etkin feels that she was well prepared for the work and time involved for the apprenticeship, she noted over the 10 weeks her eyes were opened as to how competitive theatre can be.

“The internship made me realize how much competition there is for women in the theatre.  I understand acting is a hard business for all different types of actors, but playwrights, directors, and theatres are simply not making enough work for the amount of female actresses in the business,” Etkin explained.

Though the competition between women could intimidate some, Etkin decided to embrace it.  As opposed to creating a divide between fellow women, Etkin found a way to bring them together.

“During our time at the festival, we were encouraged to create and perform our own work.  This gave me the idea of producing an all-women’s theatre festival.  In about two weeks, a fabulous group of women and I produced, directed and performed in five short pieces.  Even the pieces that were performed were all created by female acting apprentices at the festival,” Etkin said. “The women’s festival was titled ‘FemmeFest’ and was definitely a highlight of my time there.  It taught me to value my ideas and that I can make a difference in the industry.”

Etkin’s hard work didn’t go unnoticed at the Williamstown Theatre. Director of the Apprentices Jason Mcdowell Green selected Etkin out of over 70 apprentices to act in a small film role for the theatre’s production of “A Legendary Romance.”

As for the future, Etkin will be graduating at the close of this semester.  She plans to take a short respite period to work and save money, so she can eventually move to New York City to pursue a career in acting and comedy.

“As I was growing up, my dad would always tell me the story of Sylvester Stallone and the creation of the film ‘Rocky.’  No one wanted to hire Stallone at first, and then he made ‘Rocky’” and became hugely successful by producing and writing his own work.  This largely impacted how I would like my future acting career to unfold.  I would love to create a show that portrays women and their stories in a real, but humorous light,” Etkin said.

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