Bylaws of the MIT Shakespeare Ensemble

• I. Alum Rights
• II. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy
• III. Inactive Terms
• IV. Retreat
• V. Receipt Timeline
• VI. Casting Policy
• VII. Production Staff Policy
• VIII. Curtain Call
• IX. Play Choice
• More bylaws (certificate protected)

I. Alum Rights

• I-A. An Alum can...
• I-A-1. act in any show so long as they do not act for two (2) consecutive terms. If acting, one must complete Put-in/Strike Hours, a Run Time job, and, if possible, Pre-Prod Hours.
• I-A-2. apply for a technical position with the understanding that preference will be given to to current Members and students.
• I-A-3. bequeath unto current Membership the enlightenment received while a Member, in the form of Ensemble Classes and "Back in my day..." stories.

II. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Policy

• II-A. The Ensemble will maintain a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Policy for Ensemble activities in order to set appropriate boundaries and work to ensure the Ensemble is a safe space for all. This policy will be posted publicly.
• II-A-1. The DEI policy will be provided to directors prior to hiring and reviewed with an Officer or directorial staff member at the start of the production process.
• II-A-2. The DEI policy will be reviewed with actors and production staff at the beginning of any production.
• II-A-3. The DEI policy will be provided to all Members at Beginning of Term and End of Term meetings.
• II-B. The DEI Policy should be reviewed after each term production, at a minimum, by the Officers and updated as needed. Any updates to the DEI policy must be shared with the Membership for approval, with the option for anonymous feedback.
• II-B-1. Any Member can request a discussion of the DEI policy or propose a change to the DEI policy at any time.
• II-B-1a. If a discussion is requested, the Officers must schedule it as soon as is feasible. If there is no earlier option, the discussion will be held at the next Beginning of Term or End of Term meeting.
• II-B-1b. A Member can write their own proposal for a DEI policy change, or can request one of the Officers to write a proposal on their behalf.
• II-B-2. Changes to the DEI policy are considered approved if there are no objections to the change after two (2) weeks of the policy being open to the Membership for comment. If there are updates made to the proposed change after feedback from the Membership, there must be at least one (1) additional week for objections.

III. Inactive Terms

• III-A. A Member may take a term off from the Ensemble and return the following term with Full Member status. This is called an Inactive term.
• III-B. A Member taking an Inactive term is relieved from the following Membership requirements:
• III-B-1. Performing a Term Job, except in the situation described in III-E.
• III-B-2. Performing Build Hours
• III-B-3. Performing Publicity Booth Hours
• III-B-4. Attending Put-In/Strike
• III-B-5. Attending BOT and EOT
• III-C. A Member taking an Inactive term still has full voting privileges and is welcome at any Ensemble meetings and events, including Retreat.
• III-D. If a Member decides to declare an Inactive Term, it is suggested it should be done at (or before) the Beginning of Term Meeting. It should be declared no later than two weeks before Put-In for the main-stage show that semester.
• III-E. If the Member has accepted a Term Job at the Beginning of Term meeting and then declares an Inactive Term, that obligation to the Shakespeare Ensemble is still expected to be completed.

IV. Retreat

• IV-A. If budget allows, there shall be one (1) retreat per term. If budget only allows for one (1) retreat for a given school year, it shall be during the spring semester.
• IV-B. The Officers shall arrange for transportation, lodging, food, and entertainment in accordance with the budget available. They may appoint other members to be responsible for some of these things.
• IV-C. The Officers may solicit donations, but cannot require them. No member may be barred access from retreat for financial reasons.
• IV-D. The retreat shall alternate business and pleasure.
• IV-E. The Chair may hold a meeting during the retreat that includes reading aloud and discussing the Constitution and Bylaws. If this meeting occurs, the Chair must read Bylaw IV-E aloud in its entirety.
• IV-F. Full members (including those on Inactive Terms) and Dartes who have completed their ensemble requirements and expressed intention to become Full Members may attend retreat.

V. Receipt Timeline

• V-A. If a Member wishes to be reimbursed for a purchase, an electronic Request For Payment form must be submitted to the treasurer no later than two (2) weeks after the event for which the purchase was made, or the final performance of the production for which the purchase was made (whichever is later).

VI. Casting Policy

• VI-A. Casting Policy for Term Shows
• VI-A-1. Before auditions begin, the Officers, Producer, Stage Manager, and Director shall meet to discuss the following policy on how the show shall be cast.
• VI-A-2. At least 80% rounded down of the auditionees offered speaking roles should be Full Members, if at least that many Full Members audition.
• VI-A-3. Speaking roles will first be given to those who are Full Members or who are MIT Community Members eligible for membership according to 2.1.1.
• VI-A-4. The Producer and Stage Manager shall make sure the Director follows the Ensemble’s casting policies. If the Producer or Stage Manager is not a Full Member or is auditioning, the Officers may appoint a non-acting Member to help with this duty.
• VI-A-5. The policy for Member auditions is as follows.
• VI-A-5a. Member auditions, if desired, shall be held as soon as possible. The attendees of this audition shall be Full Members who wish to act in the production.
• VI-A-5b. Following Member auditions, the show will be tentatively cast from the Member audition pool.
• VI-A-5c. Open auditions shall be held following Member auditions. The attendees of this audition shall be mostly non-members.
• VI-A-6. The policy for actors accepting or rejecting roles is as follows.
• VI-A-6a. After auditions, the Stage Manager or Producer, henceforth the ‘caller’, will call actors to offer them roles.
• VI-A-6b. There will be a space on the audition contract where the actor can indicate times at which they should not be called about casting.
• VI-A-6c. In the event that an actor does not answer the phone, the caller will allow twenty-four (24) hours from the initial attempt at contact to respond. The caller will continue attempting to contact the actor before the twenty-four (24) hours end. The caller should not tell a person their role over voicemail whenever possible.
• VI-A-6d. An actor will be allowed two (2) hours after being told their role to choose whether or not to accept it, excluding the times at which they specified they shouldn’t be called about casting. More time can be given at the discretion of the caller.
• VI-A-7. Members are strongly discouraged from accepting a role in the show if academic or personal problems may cause them to decline the role in the near future.
• VI-B. Casting Policy for the Summer and IAP Shows
• VI-B-1. Due to the different nature of Summer and IAP shows, the desirability of gaining new blood in the Ensemble, and allowing for the consideration of Summer and IAP shows with very few characters, the term show casting policy will not be observed for Summer and IAP shows. Instead, the following casting policy should be used.
• VI-B-2. Directors are encouraged to cast members of the Ensemble and/or members of any Theater Group that may be co-sponsoring the production.
• VI-C. Emergency Show Cancellation Policy
• VI-C-1. If the cast is not filled by one week after readthrough, the directorial staff of the production will hold a meeting to decide if the show should be canceled.
• VI-C-1a. The first half of this meeting, the directorial staff will discuss cancellation with the director, giving them an opportunity to present solutions.
• VI-C-1b. The second half of this meeting will not include the director. The directorial staff will discuss and vote. If a majority of the directorial staff votes that the show should be canceled, it will be.
• VI-C-2. After meeting, the directorial staff will communicate their decision to the cast, crew and director. The director will be compensated for at least two weeks of work, corresponding to their work done for auditions and the first week of rehearsal process.

VII. Production Staff Policy

• VII-A. Before a production begins, the Producer shall work to assemble a production crew. Preference will be given in order of: Full Member, ShakeDarte, Current MIT Student, Ensemble Alum, MIT Community Member, Other. Given two candidates of equal membership status, interviews will be held.
• VII-B. After holding the same lead designer or directorial staff position, including in a co- capacity, thrice, no individual may refuse an assistant while applying to that position again. Producers are encouraged to assign a less qualified applicant to an assistant position if multiple people of the same membership status apply.
• VII-B-1. If the Producer determines that a lead/assistant relationship imposed by this rule will not work, the person who would have been placed in the assistant position will be given the lead position (unless they specifically applied to be an assistant).
• VII-C. Members are strongly discouraged from accepting a position on the production staff if academic or personal problems may cause them to decline the role in the near future.
• VII-D. Production Crew Mentorship:
• VII-D-1. Full Members of the Ensemble and ShakeDartes are encouraged to explore new production positions, regardless of experience. In th