The Mary Baldwin University Shakespeare & Performance program – in partnership with the
American Shakespeare Center – is now accepting applications for the Mary McDermott Visiting
Artist 2025-26 academic year.
Candidates with a desire to join and contribute to a collaborative,
inclusive, consent-forward, and interdisciplinary program are encouraged to apply.
The successful applicant will spend the Spring semester (January 12 through April 30) in Staunton,
VA, working as an embedded guest artist in the MBU Shakespeare & Performance graduate
program.
Work will include, but not be limited to:
- Direct a full-scale MFA production of William Shakespeare’s All’s Well That Ends Well, at the
Blackfriars Playhouse with the MFA Company, Constellation Shakespeare Collective. - Teach a 3-semester hour Topics in Directing course in the MLitt program.
- Offer ongoing program-wide workshops or lectures in your area of expertise.
- Engage in other faculty and student activities within the general course of the academic
semester as agreed with the program directors.
Candidates for the position will include, but not be limited to: artists and professionals familiar with
the Blackfriars Playhouse and the Staunton artistic community, such as alumni and associated artists
with the American Shakespeare Center, and/or are familiar with staging classical theatre within an
early modern playhouse structure.
McDermott Artists will receive free housing within walking distance of MBU and an honorarium of
$12,000. This contract is a full-time position across the entire semester.
REQUIREMENTS
Candidates must have a terminal degree: MFA, Ph.D., or a significant body of professional
experience as a director, choreographer, or actor. Education experience in higher ed is preferred, but
not required.
HOW TO APPLY
Please send a letter of interest and a CV to S&P co-Program Director Doreen Bechtol
(dbechtol@marybaldwin.edu) and Operations Manager (sanderson@marybaldwin.edu) by June 25,
2025.