Production: Barbed Wire
Presented by: Multicultural Arts Center (Cambridge, MA)
Dates: January 2027 (Performances January 15-17, 2027)
About the Production:
Barbed Wire, a new full-length play by Japanese American playwright Rosanna Yamagiwa Alfaro and African American playwright Mary E. McCullough. It reclaims a largely untold chapter of Asian, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) history by centering Sam, a young Japanese American inmate, and the unlikely cross-racial friendship he forges with Johnny, a Black soldier stationed at his camp. The play draws directly from Alfaro’s family experience (her father worked as a Japanese professor during WWII, and she witnessed the treatment of Japanese Americans during the war), which grounds the work in intergenerational memory and embodied narrative. Barbed Wire traces Sam’s journey from internment through his early college years, exploring what it means to build identity and claim belonging when one’s own country has deemed one the enemy.
Internship Role — Stage Management:
We are seeking a motivated Harvard student to serve as Stage Management Intern for the production. This role offers hands-on professional experience in a collaborative theater environment.
Responsibilities include:
- Assisting the Director and Production Manager in rehearsals and performances.
- Maintaining rehearsal reports and production paperwork.
- Supporting communication between actors, creative team, and production staff.
- Helping to coordinate technical rehearsals (lights, sound, and cues).
- Managing backstage operations during performances.
Qualifications:
- Interest in theater, production, or stage management.
- Strong organizational and communication skills.
- Reliability, punctuality, and ability to work collaboratively.
- Some prior theater or stage management experience is a plus, but not required.
Time Commitment:
- Rehearsals begin early January 2027, leading into tech week (Jan 2-14).
- Performances run January 15-17, 2027
- Flexible rehearsal schedule will be coordinated in advance.
***This position is part of the MCS 2026-2027 Arts & Museums January Internship Program. The program is a valuable chance for currently enrolled Harvard College students to complete a three-week, project-based internship in the Boston area during the January term (January 4th -22nd, excluding Martin Luther King Jr. Day). MCS will offer a $750 stipend as well as on-campus housing to any student who completes a winternship. To be considered, you must apply in Crimson Careers.
Students applying for an Arts & Museums Winter Internship who require on-campus housing must also apply for Wintersession housing before the Housing Office’s Round 1 deadline in early October via the Residential Portal Winter Recess Housing – College Housing. Please note that you do not need to have interviewed for or received an internship offer in order to submit this housing application. Applying by the deadline is necessary to avoid the $50 late application fee assessed by the Housing Office. Other internships take place outside of Boston and provide their own housing.
If you have any questions about the Arts & Museums January Internship program, feel free to contact Amy DiGiovine at adigiovine@fas.harvard.edu.***
