Graduate Studies: Professional Actor Training Program:
Letter from Producing Artistic Director
LETTER FROM THE PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Hi,
Thank you for your interest in the Professional Actor Training Program at UNC/Chapel Hill. I am the Producing Artistic Director here at PlayMakers Repertory Company, the professional LORT theatre housed at UNC.
Ray Dooley (my colleague and Head of the PATP) and I audition hundreds of actors to choose each incoming class of 6-8 superbly talented early-career actors. All of our PATP students are given significant acting opportunities with PlayMakers as they show readiness and as appropriate opportunities arise. All PATP students graduate with excellent training, an Equity card, and a meaningful 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. We think of PlayMakers as a “teaching hospital” for young actors. The opportunity to study deeply, combined with the opportunity to act professionally, makes our program one of the most attractive in the country to prospective students.
The PATP has 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 our commitment to meaningful opportunities on the professional stage is second to none. If it is your intention to be a working actor, an actor who can work in a variety of approaches and genres, no program will better prepare you for that undertaking.
Yours Truly,
Joseph Haj
Producing Artistic Director
PlayMakers Repertory Company
