MISSION:
Keen Company creates theater that connects. In intimate productions of plays and musicals, we celebrate the complexities of hope and the joys of the human condition. 

WORK: 

Through two mainstage productions each season, we champion narratives about characters doing their best in a chaotic world. 

Through our educational arm, Keen Teens, we raise the quality of plays written for the high school stage by commissioning new work from accomplished professional playwrights and providing a free professional training program for teens. 

Through our new work initiative, Keen Playwrights Lab, we bring together playwrights in mid-career to develop new work and facilitate that work’s exposure to a greater audience. 

ETHOS: 

Keen has developed the following principles that guide everything we do. We strive to live up to this ethos every day:

Our door is always open.
We offer people the tools they need to have a positive and welcoming experience. We endeavor to be a trustworthy host to all. 

A good process makes for better art.
We strive to foster productive, healthy, joyous collaborations that encourage vulnerability and risk-taking. Kindness, resourcefulness, and enthusiasm are valued here.

Connection is at the heart of everything we do.

We seek out deeper relations with our community of collaborators, audiences, and peers through specificity, honesty, accessibility, and anti-racist practices. We are responsible for our impact both on and off the stage.

TEAM KEEN:

Keen is run by a lean and efficient staff, utilizing a team structure to empower managers in each department to work independently as well as collaborate. Rather than a typical top down management style, Team Keen is an effort to share responsibilities among a circle of staff, each an expert in their specialty. The Artistic Director leads a team of managers, who serve as heads of their own department – Development, Marketing, Finance, Keen Teens, New Work, Press, Casting, etc. Much like a rehearsal room, the focus is on collaboration.

About Keen Teens 

Running since 2007, Keen Teens is the cornerstone of Keen Company’s outreach and education efforts, improving the quality of plays written for high school students by commissioning one-acts from accomplished professional playwrights. Keen Teens immerses approximately thirty high school students a year in a professional theater experience. Students from diverse backgrounds audition to participate in this free program engaging students in the process of producing a new play. Students rehearse the plays outside of school for approximately twelve weeks. Productions are designed and directed by theater professionals, providing students a unique opportunity to work alongside some of the most talented emerging artists working in New York today. 

Keen Teens culminates in the world premiere performances of three newly commissioned one-act plays at Theatre Row (all three plays are performed at each showing). In 2024, the festival will take place May 17-19. Since 2005, Keen Teens has made possible the off-Broadway debut of over 350 young actors. 

Keen Teens commissions and presents work that speaks to teens on their level, creating work that is complex and multilayered. Form, style, and context varies amongst each playwright and season. Recent topics have included white-washing in media (Tilda Swinton Betrayed Us by A. Rey Pamatmat), the Supreme Court (Citizens United  by Kate Coresi), and female empowerment (Rebellious Rhymes by NSangou Njikam). All pieces deal honestly and provocatively with their subject matter, some through comedy and some through sincerity and intimate portraits. 

Keen Teens is equally dedicated to the integrity of work the students are immersed in, and the new play development aspect of the program. Keen Teens has led to the publication of over 30 new one-act plays, currently being licensed and performed through Concord Theatricals, as well as a former partnership with Playscripts, Inc. These plays are regularly produced not only in the United States, but in various countries around the world from Australia to Singapore. 

Throughout our history, Keen Teens has presented new work by: Bekah Brunstetter, Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen, Kristoffer Diaz, Halley Feiffer, Madeleine George, Chisa Hutchinson, C. Julian Jimenéz, C.A. Johnson, Qui Nguyen, Rona Sidiiqui, Jen Silverman, Kit Yan & Melissa Li, Lauren Yee, and many more!

Keen Company Director of Education

Status // Part-time, independent contractor

Schedule // Schedule varies and is flexible. Generally, hours are minimal in the fall, increase in January, and are busiest in May around the Festival of New Work. There is some weekend and evening work around the Festival.

Location // Keen’s main administrative office is located at 520 Eighth Avenue in Manhattan, but most administrative work and meetings can be done remotely. Rehearsals and performances take place in person at Theatre Row, 410 West 42nd Street.

Reports to // Artistic Director, Jonathan Silverstein. 

Key relationships // The position works closely with all team members (see Team Description below), and is a key collaborator with the Artistic Director and Director of New Work, Zachariah Ezer.

Supervises // Part-time Associate who the Director will hire; also oversees all directors, stage managers, and designers.

Compensation // $8,000 per season. (The equivalent of $30hr x 20 hours per month x 12 months.)

The Director of Education is responsible for running the Keen Teens Program, both day to day and with an eye towards the strategic growth of the program, and is the primary producer of the annual Keen Teens Festival of New Work, which serves as the culmination of the program. The position is a key member of the Artistic Staff, helping to drive the work and the mission of the company forward.

Keen seeks a highly motivated individual who will take ownership of and pride in their work as part of a relatively small team. The ideal candidate will have experience working with teens and also adult artists, as well as experience directing and/or producing professional theater. Some knowledge of the Off and Off-Off Broadway community is a plus. 

The Director of Education has the following primary responsibilities:

• Ensures program artists follow the Keen Company’s ethos and that all associated work maintains our artistic vision and standards.
• Is the primary leader of the Keen Teens program, ensuring the artistic and educational goals of the program are met, and the primary producer of the annual Keen Teens Festival of New Work. 
• Acts as the ultimate artistic decision maker throughout the program and production period.
• With the Director of New Work, recruits writers for the program and oversees their work with the participants (including notes throughout the process).
• Recruits, interviews, hires, supervises, and evaluates professional artistic and technical personnel (e.g. designers, directors, etc).
• With their Associate, is the first point of contact for students and their families, including all contracts and other paperwork.
• Attends design meetings, observes some rehearsals, gives notes, and attends and assists at all tech rehearsals and performances.
• Schedules rehearsals (including booking space) and tech week. 
• Strategizes and implements new mentoring opportunities for the program.
• Acts as our ambassador via outreach to the high school community (teachers, alumni, parents), and the NYC professional artistic community (writers, directors, designers, etc).
• With the Keen Artistic Director and Managing Producer, provides input on fundraising for the program and identifies strategic opportunities for growth.
• With the Keen Artistic Director, provides input on fundraising for the program and identifies strategic opportunities for growth.
• Participates in some company team meetings, depending on workload and schedule.

To apply, please send a cover letter and resume to jobs@keencompany.org with the subject line: “LAST NAME – Director of Education”. Please ensure all materials have your last name as part of the filename(s).