Clay & Paper Theatre

JOB POSTING – ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT

Contract: As soon as available to November 30, 2012 with possibility for extension or renewal

Wage: $15/hour (30-32 hours/week)

About Clay & Paper Theatre: Clay & Paper Theatre creates, develops and performs multi-disciplinary, community-driven theatrical works using narrative theatre and large-scale puppetry in public spaces for large and diverse audiences. Clay & Paper Theatre produces plays, pageants and parades with the community, grounded in the idea that performance in public space is an act of cultural transformation. Our practice of building, rehearsing, and performing in full public view is an attempt on our part to “bring back the commons,” reunite art with the daily life of the community, and to make art accessible to all.

Job Description: Clay & Paper Theatre is seeking an Administrative Assistant to optimize our daily operations. The Administrative Assistant is the nerve centre of our theatre company and will ensure fluid communication between Clay & Paper Theatre’s production and administrative staff, be responsible for company logistics, contribute to the efficient day-to-day operations of the company, and support the work Clay & Paper Theatre staff and the company as a whole. This is an excellent opportunity for a recent graduate with exceptional administrative skill, and a passion for community-engaged public space theatre.

Duties and Responsibilities: The Administrative Assistant is responsible for all daily administrative tasks that allow Clay & Paper Theatre to function efficiently and effectively. The Administrative Assistant is required to perform a range of duties including, but not limited to:

• Coordinate and support Clay & Paper Theatre’s activities, which include: two community festivals, a summer show, workshops, and administrative and fundraising activities
• Ensure fluid communication between production and admin staff
• Coordinate volunteers
• Answer and direct phone and email inquires and respond to general information requests
• Update and maintain Clay & Paper Theatre’s information systems including data entry and filing of documents
• Book space rentals and organize logistics for groups and organizations renting space
• Schedule administrative meetings, prepare meeting agendas, and take minutes
• Sort incoming mail and prepare and send outgoing faxes, mail and packages
• Support the company’s financial management by preparing bank deposits, organizing invoices, and supporting the company’s bookkeeper
• Ensure that Clay & Paper Theatre has the necessary resources and office supplies for day-to-day operations
• Maintain and update company schedules and calendars
• Support fundraising activities on a needs basis (events, individual giving, grant support)
• Ensure the cleanliness of Clay & Paper Theatre’s offices and workshop
• Provide Administrative support to all staff
• Any other duties required to support Clay & Paper Theatre in its activities and operations
• Participate in artistic activities (learn to puppeteer, stilt-walk, perform) if you’d like to!

Qualifications/Characteristics:

• Degree, diploma or certificate in Arts Administration or equivalent work experience
• Experience in grass-roots not-for-profit arts organizations is an asset
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite. Experience with Simply Accounting an asset
• Ability to anticipate, understand, and respond to the needs of staff, clients, volunteers, and community members to meet or exceed their expectations
• Excellent organizational and time management skills including the capacity to prioritize tasks by assessing situations to determine urgency, the ability to develop a work plan, set goals, and to create, implement, and evaluate action plans
• Ability to work cooperatively and effectively with others to resolve problems, and make decisions to enhance organizational effectiveness
• Organized and detail oriented, able to process and manage large amounts of information
• Highly motivated and responsible, must be able to work independently and with a team
• Outgoing and personable, able to form positive relationships with a wide range of people
• Positive and helpful outlook, able to be flexible in response to changing working conditions and situations
• Able to take initiative, to propose, design and implement systems to enhance organizational  efficiency
• Ability to work in a creative and sometimes hectic work environment

Working at Clay & Paper Theatre:

• The Administrative Assistant will work from Clay & Paper Theatre’s offices currently located at 60 Atlantic Ave., soon to move to 35 Strachan Ave.
• The Administrative Assistant will work 30-32 hours/week, generally Monday through Friday, although weekend and evening work will be necessary at times to support productions, special events and fundraising activities.
• The Administrative Assistant will be entitled to either 2 weeks paid vacation or 4% vacation pay according to their preference.
• Occasional overtime may be required; compensation will be in the form of time off in lieu as negotiated
• As an outdoor public space theatre company, Clay & Paper Theatre’s staff roster changes substantially throughout the year. Clay & Paper Theatre’s work is accomplished by full-time, part-time, seasonal, and contract staff, as well as by interns and volunteers. The Administrative Assistant will work at times independently and at times as part of a large team and will need to be flexible to changing working conditions.
• Clay & Paper Theatre is an equal opportunity employer.

Please submit your resume and cover letter to clayandpaper@sympatico.ca by February 6^th. Please put ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT APPLICATION in the subject line. Interviews will take place between February 13^th and 24^th. Clay & Paper Theatre encourages applications from people of diverse backgrounds.

We thank you for your application, but only those selected for an interview will be contacted.

Is City Hall the scariest thing you’ve seen this Halloween Season? Clay & Paper Theatre are tackling the subject in our 12th annual Night of Dread, featuring Service Cutbacks as our “Fear of the Year”. Through a series of workshops, Clay & Paper worked with the local community to select service cuts as the scariest thing happening in the GTA this year. To address community concerns, we have created a giant papier-mâché sculpture symbolizing government cutbacks (to be unveiled at Night of Dread) which will meet its fiery end in a cathartic spectacle.

The twelfth annual Night of Dread will parade our private and collective fears through the darkened streets of Toronto. Former years have featured fears such as: environmental contamination, war, hunger, big business and propaganda. The hour-long procession returns to Dufferin Grove Park for an evening of pagentry that compel us to call on, mock and banish the fears that unite and divide us in these tumultuous times. Night of Dread is an unforgettable evening of pageantry, music and masquerade incorporating towering puppets, stilt dancers, fire-spinners and fearful masks in a daring exploration of dread. This much-beloved community celebration incorporates international folk and theatrical traditions, drawing inspiration from festivals of death and remembrance around the world. Join us as we dance in the streets with our city’s finest musicians, puppeteers, dancers and stilt walkers; together we’ll laugh at our fears, waltz with death, eat the bread of the dead, and remember those who have gone from our midst.

This annual community parade and pageant will take place on the evening of Saturday, October 29th. Masks and puppets will be available for pick-up from 4 to 6 o’clock for those who wish to participate in the parade. At 6:15 the parade will begin its journey, eventually circling back to a park transformed for the evenings festivities.

Night of Dread community workshops are being held until Night of Dread:

Wednesday – Friday, 5-9PM

Hell on Wheels is returning for its third year! Once again, a section of Night of Dread parade will be dedicated to those on wheels: bicycles, wheelchairs, unicycles, skateboards, rollerskates, scooters – what have you!

Hell on Wheels was developed following the success of Clay & Paper’s summer projects Cyclops: Cycling Oriented Puppet Squad and Puppets Without Barriers (providing accessible theatre). The last two year’s were a great success. Let’s roll with it!

Deck yourself out at home or visit the Hell on Wheels decorating station at Dufferin Grove Park; arrive early to adorn your wheels or yourself, and roll through the parade in style!

Decorating starts at 4 PM.

Photo by Leanne Eisen

NOW PLAYING: The Pedaler’s Wager

Accessible shows: August 3 to August 14, 2011
Outdoors at Dufferin Grove Park (east side of Dufferin, south of Bloor)
$10 or pay what you can

Clay & Paper Theatre is pleased to invite you to The Pedaler’s Wager, our first-ever, bicycle-based mobile play. The Pedaler’s Wager is an original comedy featuring puppetry large and small, live music, and our very own CYCLOPS: Cycling Oriented Puppet Squad.

Clay & Paper Theatre’s Puppets Without Barriers program is making The Pedaler’s Wager accessible to people who are blind and low vision, as well as deaf, deafened and hard of hearing, with two weeks of specially adapted productions.

Come with us on a journey through an epic tale of modernity, as told by a peddler (who pedals) and his troupe who risk their livelihoods to tell this story of societal transformation. When a small family is forced to leave their riverside home, cajoled by developer Baron Boots, his consort Lady Grabsome, their disastrously hungry son Otto and a smooth-talking PR Department, where will they go? Pushed into the new Future, how will the family survive?

BLIND AND LOW VISION ADAPTED SHOWS:
Wednesday, August 3 at 7 PM
Thursday, August 4 at 7 PM
Friday, August 5 at 2 PM and 7 PM
Saturday, August 6 at 7 PM
Sunday, August 7 at 7 PM

The Pedaler’s Wager blind and low vision adapted performances feature integrated descriptive dialogue and sound cues, as well as guided touch tours of the puppets and props that take place at 6:30 PM, a half-hour before the play starts.

DEAF, DEAFENED AND HARD OF HEARING ADAPTED SHOWS:
Wednesday, August 10 at 7 PM
Thursday, August 11 at 7 PM
Friday, August 12 at 2 PM and 7 PM
Saturday, August 13 at 7 PM
Sunday, August 14 at 7 PM

The Pedaler’s Wager deaf, deafened and hard of hearing adapted performances feature American Sign Language interpretation. To watch the ASL trailer for the show, go to www.clayandpapertheatre.org.

Another special feature of The Pedaler’s Wager are weekend mobile matinées, which allow audience members to cycle alongside performers, following the troupe to the show’s conclusion. Please note that ASL interpretation and pre-performance touch tours are not available for the mobile matinées.

For more information, visit: www.clayandpapertheatre.org

Sunday, June 19th, 2011, 2 – 5 pm
Dufferin Grove Park (Dufferin, South of Bloor)
Pay-What-You-Can / $10 Suggested
www.clayandpapertheatre.org

Don’t forget to join us on Sunday, June 19th for Clay & Paper Theatre’s 9th annual Day of Delight! Come to beautiful Dufferin Grove Park for an afternoon of theatre, music, dance, installation and participatory works.

Here’s a sneak peek of Sunday’s line-up:

(Day of Delight map by Sandra Henderson, Stage Manager extraordinaire!)

Hosted by: Lisa Marie DiLiberto & David Anderson

Act 1: The Valley (2-3 PM)

Human & Bicycle: A Love Story, by CYCLOPS: Cycling Oriented Puppet Squad

You Seem Lonely, by Sage Tyrtle

Lola, by Upside-down Ladies

Branches, by Collective Exchange

Hi-fi Steriophonic, by Circus Alchemy

Act 2: The Stinging Nettles (3-3:30 PM)

Georgian Love Songs, by Darbazi

The Wedding, Ismailova Theatre of Dance

The Saucy Tarts will give traditional cancan a kick in its frilly knickers!

Act 3: The Forest and Cardbordia (3:30-5 PM)

Love Coins, by KEME Productions

A Musical Bicycle Parade with CYCLOPS, Richard Underhill and Friends

Songs in the key of L.O.V.E. by Honey and Blair

Ben and Leanne’s Day of Delight Wedding

A Dance Party in Cardboardia with Samba Elegua!

Delightful all Day:

Red Riding Hood and the Green Wolf, by Blackcurrant Productions

Bureau de Poste de L’amour, Martin de la Rue

Falling, by Clare Samuel

Love Tree, by Shannon Roszell

The Land of Cardbordia

Cardboard Fortress, by Yamantaka//SonicTitan.

Punch and Judy’s Puppet Kissing Booth

Bicycle Decoration Station

A Delightful Silent Auction in support of Clay & Paper Theatre