Facilitating positive relationships among aspiring, emerging, experienced, and seasoned theatre practitioners in the Washington, DC-area.

Mentorship Program

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2020 Theatre Summit

The Mentorship Program pairs mentors and mentees who seek professional growth through the direct observation, guidance, and feedback of other practitioners. Individuals are matched based on specialties, career status, and development interests.

Our next program will run April 10 through July 31, 2023. If you are interested in becoming a mentor or mentee, please review the program expectations, and reach out to Tristan Willis at tristan@theatrewashington.org.

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The mentorship program not only allowed me to share my knowledge of how theatre can be used to empower communities, but it also connected our organization to a very bright and talented individual with whom we can imagine collaborating over the long term.
Mentor Deb Gottesman
The Theatre Lab

Building Community Between Individuals 


Our mentorship program, developed in 2018 by theatre practitioner Thembi Duncan and now led by Tristan Willis, is for early-career and established theatre practitioners with varying levels of familiarity with the Washington, DC-area theatre landscape. No matter where you are in your career, we will carefully match you with a mentor who shares interests with you and can remember what it felt like to be where you are now. We invite you to become a mentor if you're ready to share from your experiences and excited to engage with and learn from up-and-coming talent. Through this program, Theatre Washington strives to build community between individuals – if this just feels like “networking,” we’re doing it wrong!

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Mark Chalfant and Jasmine Jiang

Expectations & Benefits

The mentee-mentor relationship is meant to be authentic, informed, and guided by our collective work and connections as a community. Mentorship pairs participate in four meetings over 16 weeks. There is no cost to participate.

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Deidra LaWan Starnes and Michelle Proctor Rogers

Become a Mentor or Mentee

If you are interested in being a mentee, please fill out this form. We have space for 25 mentees, and the program is first come first served.

If you are interested in being a mentor, please fill out this form.