SUMMER THEATRE FOR STUDENTS
Our Theatre Quest programs help students grow their theatre skills in these one to two-week-long camps. Students will have the opportunity to learn from talented instructors and will showcase their abilities together on the final day.
Our Theatre Intensive and Theatre Tech programs are for high school students who are ready to take their technique and artistry to the next level. PlayMakers offers a six-week practicum for high school students—both on stage and behind the scenes—combining top-notch teaching with unparalleled practical experience. Students work with professional directors, choreographers, musical directors, and theatre technicians at PlayMakers Repertory Company, which culminates in a professional-quality production for the entire Triangle to enjoy.
BE THE FIRST TO HEAR ABOUT SYC 2025!
SYC THEATRE INTENSIVE 2025
By audition to rising 9th graders through 2025 High School Graduates
PIPPIN Book by Roger O. Hirson, Music & Lyrics by Stephen Schwarz
Originally Produced on the Broadway Stage by Stuart Ostrow
Originally Directed on the Broadway Stage by Bob Fosse
2013 Broadway Revival Directed by Diane Paulus
Theo Ending Originally Conceived in 1998 by Mitch Sebastion
Performances July 16-20 and 23-27
Rehearsal Days and Times: June 16-July 8 – Monday through Friday 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, Lunch Break 1:00-2:00 pm
Technical Rehearsals: July 9-12, 14-15 – afternoon and evening rehearsals
Cost: $1750
Scholarships and payment plans are available
Attend a regional audition
Auditions will be taking place throughout the Triangle, so that you can attend the audition location or date most convenient to you. Want to make sure you’re in tip-top form for auditions? PlayMakers and SYC staff will be holding audition workshops open to anyone who would like to mock-audition and receive feedback on your work before you audition for PIPPIN. Workshop and audition dates for 2025 are:
East Chapel Hill High School
500 Weaver Dairy Rd, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
Workshop: Friday, December 6, 2024 at 4pm
Auditions: Saturday, December 14, 2024 at 10am
Walltown Children’s Theatre
1225 Berkeley St, Durham, NC 27705
Auditions: Saturday, February 8, 2025 at 12pm
Raleigh Location Coming Soon!
Please check back for more details.
➤ RSVP HERE
Pieces prepared for the workshop or auditions should include 32 bars of a musical theater song and contemporary monologue. Monologues should be no more than a minute in length.
One or both selections should be a comedic piece.
Submit a video audition
Video submission auditions accepted through February 17, 2025.
To submit an initial video audition please adhere to the following:
First, please complete an audition contact sheet HERE
Auditions should include 32 bars of a musical theater song and contemporary monologue, no more than a minute in length.
One or both selections should be a comedic piece.
Please state your name at the beginning and end of the video.
Submissions should have a clear picture and clear sound; they are not required to be of professional video quality. Please make sure you are in good lighting and in front of a solid background. Nothing else should be in the shot except for you. You should be in a three-quarter shot for the entirety of the audition. Please shoot your audition in landscape (horizontally).
Live accompaniment or music tracks are preferable. A cappella singing is accepted although not encouraged.
Submit solo material only, no duets, trios, or group numbers as audition material.
Optional: reels showcasing your dance abilities can also be included with your audition material. Dance reels should be no longer than 60 seconds and are not required to be considered for a callback.
Please upload your video as an unlisted YouTube or Vimeo link and send the link to SYC@unc.edu, along with a recent picture of you. Subject line should be:
SYC Auditions_AUDITIONERS FULL NAME
You will receive an email confirmation once your contact sheet and video submission are received.
Callbacks will be held in-person in March. Those invited to attend callbacks will be notified by February 28th.
Check back soon for more information regarding 2025 Theatre Intensive auditions, TheatreTech interviews, and TheatreQuest registration.
Questions? Email us at syc@unc.edu
THEATRETECH 2025
Students in TheatreTech train side-by-side PlayMakers professional production staff in select areas: scenic, stage management, props, costumes, lights, or sound. This hands-on training is a unique and life changing experience for students interested in tech theater.
TheatreTech 2025 will work behind the scenes of SYC’s summer production of “Pippin”.
Important Dates:
Shop Days and Times: June 16-July 9, Monday through Friday 10:00am to 5:00pm, Lunch Break 1:00-2:00pm
Technical Rehearsals: July 10-12, 14-15 – afternoon and evening rehearsals
Performances: July 16-20, 23-27
Tuition for TheatreTech is $800.
Scholarships and payment plans are available.
THEATRE QUEST MIDDLE SCHOOL (RISING 6TH-9TH GRADERS) 2025
Dates: June 16-20 (No camp on June 19 for Juneteenth) and June 23-27, 2025
Students learn how to play an action in a scene, identify objectives, overcome obstacles, and focus energy. In the second week, students focus these skills on developing their comedic skills with monologues, scenes, physical comedy, and improvisation. Humor is such an essential ingredient in theatre and in life! Camp ends with final sharing on the last day.
Dates: June 16-20 (No camp on June 19 for Juneteenth) and June 23-27, 2025
Students learn about the world of solos and duets and explore tips and tricks to enhance their musical theatre performance skills. In the second week, students learn the ins and outs of group numbers and how to stop the show! Camp ends with final sharing on the last day.
Dates: June 30 – July 3, 2025 (No camp on July 4)
Acting, musical theatre, storytelling and more rely on our bodies! Explore how we move as people, actors, and storytellers while learning about characterization, blocking, and choreography in this week-long camp. Camp ends with a final sharing on the last day.
Dates: June 30 – July 4 (No camp on July 4) and July 7-11, 2025
Write a brand-new play! Acting teams use games, movement, playwriting exercises and writing prompts to create unique and original short plays. Teams revise and rehearse plays and get them performance ready! Camp ends with final sharing on the last day.
Questions? Email us at syc@unc.edu
THEATRE QUEST HIGH SCHOOL (RISING 9TH-12TH GRADERS) 2025
Dates: June 23-27, 2025
Get the skills an actor needs to tackle the unique demand of this richly rewarding classical material. Dive into Shakespeare’s texts through script analysis, exploration of language, vocal work, monologues, and scene study. Camp ends with final sharing on the last day.
Dates: June 30 – July 3 (No camp on July 4) and July 7-11, 2025
Learn to build compelling scenes, exploring text and characterization. Explore solo work onstage with curiosity and nuance. Build your skills and connections. No experience necessary. All levels invited!
Dates: Session I: June 16-20, 2025 (No camp on June 19 for Juneteenth)
Session II: June 23-27, 2025
Develop your craft of playwriting in this workshop style experience. Students will develop ideas through conversation and improvisation while developing scripts during designated individual writing times, informal shared readings, and feedback from both peers and the instructor. Camp ends with final sharing on the last day.
Dates: June 30 – July 3, 2025
Learn to produce staged readings of selected works, exploring elements of producing, directing, acting, and arts administration.
Dates: July 7-11 and July 14-18, 2025
Study the foundations of acting the song and explore the different styles in Musical Theater. Build storytelling skills and ensemble acting. Whether students are interested in learning something new, or continuing their musical theater studies, this class will build knowledge and skills, all while having a lot of fun. Camp ends with final sharing on the last day.
Dates: July 7-11 and July 14-18, 2025
$375 for one week, or $675 for both
Congratulations! These Improv courses will change your life forever! Get ready to think quick on your feet and recognize patterns to reach new comedic heights! In Principles of Improv, students work on the fundamentals to any great improv scene: how to create characters that are absurd but realistic, relationships that are hilarious and truthful, and an entire environment out of nothing but using their minds and hands. Students learn these mechanics as well as short form games to become a great improviser, and a better actor as well! In Improv 102, we’ll build upon these skills to create longer improvised sets with multiple scenes and characters. Please remember to bring your favorite script so we can rip them apart vis-à-vis Dead Poet Society. Camp ends with final sharing on the last day.
Questions? Email us at syc@unc.edu
FAQs
All programming takes place at the Joan H. Gillings Center for Dramatic Art, located at 120 Country Club Rd. Chapel Hill, 27599.
In compliance and collaboration with UNC’s Office for the Protection of Minors, we strive to maintain a 16:1 ratio across our programming. Often, it is much lower because we staff with faculty, teaching assistance, PRC staff, and more across the Conservatory.
All adults working with students are vetted through background and offender registry checks, annually in most cases. Full-time employees, after initial employment background checks, are reviewed every five years with offender registry checks annually. Independent contractors (teaching artists, teaching assistants, and so on) are checked annually regardless of their tenure with SYC in accordance with the Standard on Protection of Minors.
Most SYC programs occur between the hours of 10am – 5pm, Monday – Friday. Lunch for all programs happens from 1 – 2pm.
Theatre Intensive and TheatreTech move to afternoons and evenings beginning with the first technical rehearsal through closing night. Scheduling during this time may vary but is usually from 1 – 9pm with staggered calls according to production responsibilities and final scheduling for performances.
For an additional fee, students may be dropped off beginning at 9am for the duration of the relevant program. Most students use this as quiet time or to socialize with others, including our teaching assistants.
Drop-off should be purchased per program, meaning a student attending multiple camps should plan to add the service to each if needed.
We do not have an official late pick-up service. We ask that students be safely on to their next destination no later than 5:30pm daily without extenuating circumstances.
We work with Parking and Transportation to provide parking spaces for drivers. This is an additional fee that we cannot control and do not manage.
Information regarding parking will be included in communications to finalize registration for all participants.
We do our best to support access to quality arts education and, through the generous support of individual donors across the PlayMakers network, we are able to offer tuition waivers for qualified applicants. Applications are available here: TheatreQuest; Theatre Intensive; TheatreQuest.
Documents containing confidential and personally identifiable information cannot be transmitted electronically at this time. Please plan to submit via post or drop-off to the CDA.
If you would like to help support our programs with a generous donation, you may do so here.
UNC employees and affiliates are able to add early drop-off as a free service (approx. $50 value).
If additional support is necessary, please use the appropriate financial aid form to request consideration. We support access to quality arts education and seek to support as many students and families as is possible.
If your request is received two or more weeks prior to the start of the program, a full refund is possible. Please email syc@unc.edu AND prcboxoffice@unc.edu providing the camp name and order number (if available) to facilitate this request.
Requests made less than 14 days to commencement of program will be considered on a case-by-case basis with a preference for placement in a different camp offered at another time.
PlayMakers also reserves the right to cancel camps due to low enrollment or other curricular issues with at least two weeks’ notice. In such instances, full refunds or moving registration to another camp are possible.
Additional information is necessary to finalize registrations prior to on-site arrival in accordance with Campus Safety and Protection of Minors on Campus.
This includes emergency contact information, medical history, and code of conduct. Our initial request to participants usually happens in March via syc@unc.edu so be sure to use an accurate email address that is regularly managed.
All materials must be submitted prior to participating in any on-site programming. Documents containing confidential and personally identifiable information cannot be transmitted electronically at this time. Please plan to submit via post or drop-off to the CDA.