PlayMakers' Haj Leaving UNC for New Role in Minnesota

Posted on Feb. 17, 2015

Joseph Haj ’88 (MFA), producing artistic director of UNC’s PlayMakers Repertory Company, has been named the next artistic director of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis.

He will begin the position in July.

Haj has been producing artistic director of PlayMakers since 2006, where he has directed Into the Woods, The Tempest, Metamorphoses, Cabaret, Henry IV & V, Nicholas Nickleby and Big River, among others. Under Haj, the company established the PRC² second-stage series and has expanded community engagement through educational opportunities, community partnerships and outreach initiatives.

“We are enormously grateful to Joe for his deep-rooted contributions to PlayMakers,” said McKay Coble ’79, interim chair of UNC’s department of dramatic art. “Joe has shown great vision, creativity and leadership, taking our theater into international focus with his exemplary artistry and diverse, exciting programming choices. We are proud of Joe and wish him all the best for his future role at the Guthrie. PlayMakers has been part of the fabric of UNC and the region for nearly 40 years. We are beginning the search for new leadership as we approach this milestone anniversary in 2015-16.” Coble also earned her MFA from UNC in 1981.

Haj has a long history of working in regional theater, from the Guthrie to Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Folger Theater in Washington, D.C., and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, where he currently is directing a new production of Shakespeare’s Pericles.

Based in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences, PlayMakers is the professional theater in residence in the department of dramatic art.

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More online…

• It Only Seams Impossible: Want to be a draper? Give up most everything else. What you see on stage is the fruit of one of Carolina’s most demanding academic programs. From the January/February 2015 issue of the Carolina Alumni Review.
• Every Character Tells a Story: Coverage of PlayMakers’ production of Nicholas Nickleby, where 25 actors portrayed 150 characters, each distinct in manner and voice. From the November/December 2009 issue of the  Carolina Alumni Review.
• PlayMakers’ Haj on Magazine’s List of Top 25 Theater Artists
  March 2009 news report
• Joseph Haj ’88: Old Dog, Many New Tricks
  From the January/February 2008 issue of the Carolina Alumni Review.
• GAA, UNC Celebrate Drama in New York, Honor Film Critic
  July 2007 news report
• Alumnus Returns to UNC in New Role at PlayMakers
  July 2006 news report

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