Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati
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PROFESSIONAL APPRENTICE PROGRAM
Our Apprentice Program offers a season-long immersive and enriching experience for professionally bound actors pursuing careers in the arts.
Act together.
Our Apprentice Program offers a season-long immersive and enriching experience for emerging professional theatre makers. We will invite a company of actors and one stage manager apprentice to join our 2025-2026 Apprentice Company.
Ensemble Theatre’s Professional Apprentice Program is a concentrated 11-month program (August-July) that serves as a springboard for early-career theatre-makers on their professional path. Participants hone their practical skills through close, hands-on interaction with artists and staff for an entire season and work collectively to fulfill our mission of using theatre for social change.
We encourage all folx to apply.
Ensemble Theatre is committed to equity and diversity and to providing an inclusive, welcoming, and safe artistic space where all can collaborate freely.
Our creative culture is empowered by people who represent an array of gender identities and sexual orientations; racial, ethnic, and religious identities; body inclusivity; and differing abilities, ideas, and personal expressions.
2024-2025 Apprentices
Maddi O'Connell
What to expect
The Apprentice Company is the foundation of our Ensemble, and its members are nurtured and valued for their essential role in the organization’s operations and purpose.
Through an annual audition and interview process, a class of apprentices is recruited to serve as the core company for the season, sharing in the breadth of daily organizational and artistic operations.
In addition to understudying or performing suitable main stage roles, the acting apprentice experience is amplified through immersive experiential programming curated for each production. Our stage management apprentice will take on our 2nd ASM position garnering exceptional professional hands-on training and experience.
At the end of the season, the company is celebrated with its own fully produced show. Apprentices leave the program with a portfolio of practical work experience and job skills, preparing them for a long future in the arts industry.
Read the full job descriptions:
How to apply
Application
Applications for the 2025–2026 Season are now open through February 10, 2025.
Phase 1
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- Complete online application
- Upload résumé and personal artistic statement
- Acting applicants will also need to include a headshot and a link to their recorded audition
- Provide your references with this webpage link to submit to complete the recommendation form on your behalf (see below)
- Complete online application
Phase 2
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- ETC may invite you for an interview on Zoom.
You will hear back from us regardless of application and acceptance status. If you have questions about the audition process or program, email Torie Wiggins and Shannon Rae Lutz, our apprentice programming team. No phone calls, please.
Support materials
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- personal artistic statement
- current headshot (actors only)
- current résumé
- 2 completed recommendation forms (your references will need to fill out the form below by the application deadline)
Recorded auditions
Acting candidates will provide a link on their application to an uploaded self-tape consisting of two contrasting monologues of your choosing and optional 16-32 bars of a song, a cappella, or an external track (not to exceed 5 minutes total).
A link to the application will appear on this page when the recruitment window is live. Please subscribe to our email list to be notified when the application submission window opens.
2025-2026 Reference Form Submissions
Applications must include two references. References, fill out the form with the link below.
Program FAQs
Can I participate in the apprenticeship part-time?
No, participants must have flexible, almost full-time availability and are expected to prioritize the apprenticeship for the season.
Is housing included?
No, housing is not included. However, we do our best to facilitate housing by connecting apprentices to each other and networking within our community to find affordable options.
Do I need to have a college degree?
No, a degree is not a requirement. The program is a great fit for those who are just coming out of their college theatre programs, as well as for artists pursuing an experiential path towards their professional career.
What about compensation?
The apprentice receives an above-minimum, livable compensation based on the current livable wage rate for the area. Further details will be discussed in the interview process.
Where are they now?
Past apprentices have gone on to work for dozens of arts and cultural organizations across the country, including:
Goodman Theatre, Geffen Playhouse, American Repertory Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, The Public Theater, Roundabout Theatre Company, American Conservatory Theatre, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Cirque du Soleil—Vegas, Geva Theatre Center, Seattle Opera, Disney World, Marin Theatre Company, Cincinnati Reds, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Cincinnati Shakespeare Company and many, many more!
Auditions
We’re always looking for new talent and encourage actors of all types, ages, ethnicities, genders, and abilities to audition.
Get Involved
Explore creative opportunities with Greater Cincinnati’s leading professional producer of compelling, contemporary theatre.
Playwriting Competition
Our annual collegiate competition nurtures local aspiring dramatists who are helping to shape the future of American theatre.
Photo credits | Masthead, Kadeem Ali Harris and Molly Israel in Love and Information (Mikki Schaffner); Where are they now, Annie Fitzpatrick, Becca Howell, and Christine Dye in Morning Sun (Mikki Schaffner).
1127 Vine Street
