Intern Insights: Lamitra Barnes

The following was written by Theatre IV/Barksdale intern extraordinaire, Lamitra Barnes:

As I entered my senior year of high school, I realized that I needed to find an internship at a local theatre because I will be attending college as a potential theatre major in the fall of 2010. I currently attend Open High school, an academic based school on southside Richmond, where volunteer opportunities are highly encouraged. I began interning at Theatre IV and Barksdale in the fall of 2009 every Wednesday afternoon, where Ms. Janine Sears took me under her wing to make sure that I had a chance to work with most of the staff.

I had a chance to see shows during my internship such as The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and The Grapes of Wrath. Before seeing them, I had seen a few Virginia Commonwealth University plays, but not any professional plays such as those. They were great plays to watch because they were contrasting of one another and gave me two different aspects of how a show in a theatre is presented.

I also had the privilege to watch a rehearsal for the touring production I Have a Dream. When I sat there taking notes and watching the actors rehearse, I pictured myself in their shoes one day. I learned many things from the actors by watching them take direction from John Moon.

Barksdale and Theatre IV gave me the chance to not just work with actors but to also work with those who are behind the scenes. Before I got here, I didn’t have a single interest in technical theatre but my mind has changed completely.

I worked with the Director of Costumes Sue Griffin, and her associates Sarah Grady and Lynn West, who are all amazing people. They took time out of their busy schedules to show me how to help create some of the costumes for upcoming shows.

Costume designers were not the only designers that I had the chance to shadow. I also had the opportunity to work with Master Electrician Matt Landwehr. He stood at my side and helped me understand the lighting chart that was far more complicated than it appeared.

Finally, I saw how the sets are created for shows by working with Master Scenic Artist Adam Dorland and Props Master Becky Arney. They provided good instructions on exactly what they wanted done and they encouraged me that I could do it even if I didn’t have former experience in painting backdrops or props.

They all have one thing in common and that is their outgoing humorous personalities!

The technical work was interesting but I also had the chance to work at Theatre IV’s marketing and the administrative offices. I worked with Director of Marketing Sara Marsden. She was delighted for me to help her because there are tons of tasks that the marketing department has to complete such as sending brochures to the households of thousands of people and keeping files of all of the actors. I was thrilled to help her plow through the enormous amount of work.

In the administrative office, I worked and had conversations with all of the smiling faces such as Tracy Coogle, Lucas Hall, and Janine Sears. I sorted checks, filed papers, entered dates on Microsoft Excel and made copies for the administrative staff.

Even though my internship is about to reach its conclusion as I will be graduating from high school and entering college, it has been a pleasure to receive this everlasting experience. I don’t know many high school students that have been able to receive an internship in their field, but I was one of the lucky ones and I wouldn’t have traded this for world. I learned a lot from everyone that works here by observing, listening, and conversation. I was able to practice my networking skills at Barksdale and Theatre IV because everyone here is very intelligent and always happy to answer questions. I would like to give special thanks to Mrs. Susan Damron and Ms. Janine Sears who made all of this possible. Thank you Barksdale and Theatre IV!