LETTER FROM THE PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Thank you for your interest in the Professional Actor Training Program at UNC/Chapel Hill. I am the new Producing Artistic Director here at PlayMakers Repertory Company, and I am pleased to be guiding the theatre into a new era.

I went through the program here (MFA ’88), at a time when the PATP was considered the core of the acting company at PRC. We were given significant acting opportunities, particularly in our second and third years. We graduated with excellent training, an equity card, and a professional resume. I believe that we are in an apprenticeship profession, and that no amount of classroom training can replace the need for production experience. I have worked closely with Ray Dooley, my colleague and Head of the PATP, to return the program and PRC to the model described above. I will accompany Ray on recruiting auditions, and we will work together to “cast” a company.

The PATP is an excellent training program, with some of the country’s finest master teachers. It is one of the very few programs in the country associated with a LORT theatre, and, for those PATP actors who show readiness, offers the best opportunity for significant work on a LORT stage as a major part of training. If it is your intention to be a working actor, an actor who can work in a variety of styles, no program will better prepare you for that undertaking.

Thank you for your interest. I look forward to working with our class of 2011!

Yours Truly,

Joseph Haj

Producing Artistic Director
PlayMakers Repertory Company