Recommendations

December, 2021

To Whom It May Concern:

I’m pleased to write this letter in support of Barry Brait’s application to serve as a guest director for The Pennsylvania Players.  Barry was a graduate student of mine, taking two courses with me – Playwriting and Solo Performance – on the way to completing his MA in Theatre last year.  I also served as his graduate thesis advisor, for his ambitious, poignant one-man show Sholem Aleichem: Laughter in the Darkness.

As a Villanova Masters recipient, Barry has immersed himself in a wide range of scholarly and practical courses in recent years, including acting, directing, dramaturgy, dramatic literature, musical theatre and more – all this after having already worked professionally in theatre and film for decades.  It’s a testament to Barry’s insatiable curiosity that he opened himself fully to what each subject offered, gleaning as much as he could from his professors as well as his classmates.

Indeed, it’s important to note how wonderfully Barry integrated himself with the other graduate students he interacted with over his course of study – many of whom were newly-minted undergraduates.  Their newer ideas and youthful perspectives nourished him, just as his life experience and professional wisdom fed them.  In my own classes, his comments on fellow students’ work were always generous and constructive, and he was equally open to their observations and suggestions regarding his own work-in-progress.  Throughout his time at Villanova, he participated fully in the intellectual life and productions of the Theatre Department in a variety of capacities, and conjured smiles wherever he went. 

I therefore believe that Barry would make an excellent director for The Pennsylvania Players, bringing expertise, intelligence, good humor and abundant humanity to whatever project he takes on.  I have no doubt that students would respond to and be enriched by his kind and astute guidance.

All good wishes,

Michael Hollinger

Michael Hollinger

michael.hollinger@villanova.edu

215.380.1704