Hey there! My name is Matt Rogers. I recently graduated from UC Davis with a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and English. Today, I’d like to talk about my experiences with the Davis Shakespeare Festival’s Digital Internship Program, which I have been a part of for the past few months.
Previously, I was an intern with DSF during the fall of 2019, during which I worked on marketing A Comedy of Errors as well as the Bard-B-Q event. However, due to the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the internship program dramatically changed for this past spring. Rather than taking place in Davis, the program was completely virtual, with meetings taking place over Zoom and projects coordinated through the use of Asana and the Google suite.
One of the most interesting aspects of the internship experience was enabled by this virtual aspect. The various interns who made up our team come from a diverse number of places and universities, from all over the country. It therefore made for a very unique experience, as I was able to coordinate with students with a multitude of different perspectives afforded by their educational backgrounds. I deeply appreciated this, as it allowed for such a great exchange and diffusion of ideas.
Another aspect of the experience that I thoroughly enjoyed was the “pod” system. For much of the ten week of the duration of the internship, the interns were divided into three groups titled Pods. Every two weeks, each pod would focus on a different area of theater – marketing and administration, literature/dramaturgy, and production. Within each group, we would be given new assignments related to our reading of Henry IV Part 1. For me, this was an amazing opportunity to experience new aspects of theater. While I have previous experience in marketing a production, being able to work on these other aspects of a show was a completely new and enlightening experience. For example, while my pod of three worked on the Production aspect, we were able to design a hypothetical production of Henry IV Part 1, for which we were able to include our own twists on the aesthetic of the show. For example, I worked on the sound design, and was able to incorporate modern pop music to cater to our version of the show having a more contemporary setting. One of the other interns in my pod, Claire Russell, illustrated modern and gender-neutral costume designs, as displayed below:
Through this, I have gained a new understanding and appreciation of the development of a production. Being able to work on a wide range of a hypothetical production’s aspects has been very enlightening, and has made me realize new opportunities for me and others in theater.
The internship experience concluded with a virtual reading of a modern play, which was organized, produced, and marketed primarily by the intern team. I was a member of the marketing and outreach team for this, through which we created a marketing plan and presentation and outreach materials such as posters. Other interns had the opportunity to work on sound design, with the actors. The reading was overall a great success, and I found it to be a very interesting experience – one which is very relevant in showing how a production would work virtually, during a time in which going to see a production in person is not feasible or safe.
Overall, being a digital intern with the Davis Shakespeare Festival has been an amazing experience. During these troubling times, being immersed within the world of theater has been both a reprieve from all the madness and a very educational experience. It’s been especially interesting to experiment and learn about digital productions, which seem to be growing more and more prevalent and important. I am very grateful for the time I spent with the Davis Shakespeare Festival and opportunities granted to me through it. I am very excited for what the next cohort of interns will do and experience!