Colleagues Theatre Company, a small Off-Broadway troupe that's begun staging benefits to get its first season off the ground, has received scholarship funding to offer a three-year internship to one lucky (and deserving) high school graduate.

The idea is to find a graduate not going to college but instead hoping to learn the ins and outs of theatre's "technical, backstage and business side," according to producer Catherine Wolf.

Wolf told Playbill On-Line the Colleagues Theatre Company has a two pronged mission: to offer featured roles for seasoned, mature professionals, and to give high school students a chance to apprentice as technical people. "We see older people as role models, and young people can be motivated to take a positive role in society from them." CTC offers internships to its Theatre Program in Technical Craftsmaship, wherein professionals work as mentors in costume construction, set building, painting, According to the theatre company's charter, their first full season will consist of 3-5 plays to be produced Off-Broadway under an Equity contract. The theatre did a one-night benefit reading of Carol Shields' Thirteen Hands Feb. 24. A benefit performance of Elizabeth Perry's solo Sun Flower goes up June 9, and cabaret artist Julie Wilson will do a benefit for the company in autumn 1997.

As for the internship, CTC is specifically seeking a Manhattan candidate, though extraordinary candidates from around the country will also receive consideration. The position is salaried (albeit at minimum wage) and also comes with stipends for food and local commutation.

Those interested and qualified for the internship should contact Catherine Wolf of Colleagues Theatre Company at (212) 362-5332. --By David Lefkowitz