Finding Joy at Door Shakespeare

Guinevere Casper

5/26/2019

Laughter has been plentiful in the Door Shakespeare office this week.

When we came in at the start of the week, our small gang of interns greeted each other with anxious bellies and a sense of sheer determination to face whatever might lie ahead of us. It was a rainy day of arrival, but our first morning of work brought sunshine and a crisp breeze off the lake.

We weren’t quite sure what to make of each other at first; we’d all come from different places, for different purposes, and now we were huddled together in a single office space and not knowing what to expect. Or rather, the majority of us didn’t know what to expect. Two of our band, Elliot Brotherhood and Mikkel Knutson, are seasoned veterans at Door Shakespeare, having served as interns in summers prior to this one, and were more than happy to welcome the rest of us into the company.

By the end of the very first day, we were exchanging contact info and creating a group chat that, over the next week, would be littered with hilarious snapchats, memes, and stories about what shenanigans we had each gotten into after work every evening.

During our office hours, we would split up, administrative interns staying in the office and prepping hiring paperwork and organizational details while the acting and production interns were out at Bjorklunden, cleaning and getting the space ready for the company’s arrival come Sunday.

At lunch every day, we would reconvene at the office and what was a quiet office space became a den of laughter. Our Producing Artistic Director, Michael, has taken to calling some of our interactions “comedy routines.” There has been no dull moment at Door Shakespeare this week.

Myself and one of our acting and production interns, Emily Holland, shared an experience of anxiety; when we came in our first day, we were unsure if we would fit in with the other interns, with the company, if people would like us, or if we would find our home here, but we both found peace of mind in less than a week. This will be an incredible company to call home for the next three months; it is sure to be full of joy and laughter…Mikkel, when I asked him what his take away from the past week was, said “Life is better when you do your best to sap as much joy out of it as you can.” It hasn’t been hard to find that joy, even when we’re hard at work.

As we approach the start to our first week of rehearsals and welcome the rest of the company home, I am beyond excited to see what this summer has in store. In my first professional theatre gig, I’m finding people who will become amazing friends and who have greeted me and whom I am happy to greet with open arms and wide, bright smiles.