Ask an Apprentice: Jacob Alexander Craig

Meet Jacob Alexander Craig, 2025 Acting Apprentice. Jacob joins us in both Shakespeare productions this summer, A Midsummer Night's Dream and The Winter's Tale. Learn more about Jacob's summer of Shakespeare in this Ask an Apprentice feature!

APT: Hi, Jac! Thank you for joining us today. Let's get started by learning more about you and your journey to APT.
JAC: I hail from Douglasville, GA, which is like 40 minutes west of Atlanta. I heard about APT while understudying a show at the Alliance Theatre through my past professor/ APT veteran, and all-around aficionado, Jacqueline Springfield, who was the dialect coach for the show. During rehearsal of the show, she was helping me with last-minute auditions for graduate school. They passed, and it didn’t go as I’d hoped, and in chatting with her about my grievances, she had recommended the apprentice program at APT. I’d just finished a year-long apprenticeship in ATL at Actor’s Express (shout out to AE!) and I was hesitant to do another one. But I did it anyway because I trust Jacque, and it seemed interesting. After submitting, I didn’t hear anything for a while, assumed they moved on and forgot about it, setting my sights on how I could continue to train myself and audition. Then, in the early weeks of April, I got an email from Alys Dickerson asking for a meeting. So, we zoomed, it went well, and like two days later, she offered me a position, and the rest is history!

APT: How fantastic! Happy you're here! And how did you first become interested in the arts and acting?
JAC: Truth be told, I became an actor because I watched a lot of Disney Channel as a child. So, I began to pursue the arts within my church. Those initial church plays really just got me used to performing and encouraged me to seek opportunities that could further help me become a better artist and actor. I took classes on and off throughout elementary and middle school, but it wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I really decided to pursue acting.

APT: That's really cool. Want to tell us more about your first season here at APT?
JAC: Working here at APT is one of the coolest things I’ve done in my career thus far. Having the elements as an additional scene partner has proven to be challenging and amazing at the same time. One of the biggest things I’m learning is just how much vocal and physical energy it takes to fill that space.

APT: Yeah, developing and sustaining those skill is quite the process. And speaking of process, what has your time been like with the Acting Apprentice program this year?
JAC: The Apprentice Program has been great so far! For me, one of my biggest a-ha moments came from classes with Ray Chambers, where we began to build the foundational knowledge of the different types of scansions that are built into the writing. Which, I won’t lie, felt very overwhelming at first because we got a packet of a lot of information, and my mind was having trouble trying to understand where to start. But as we kept practicing it in class, on my own, and in rehearsals, the patterns began to show themselves, and there’s room to play with the text. Especially in Laura Rook’s Folio class, she and La Shawn Banks did a great job of helping us apprentices work to build a keener eye while looking at the original printing of texts to pull more information from.

APT: Okay, and what's been you're favorite part of spending summer in Spring Green?
JAC: Slick, my favorite thing has been being in a walkable town. I love ATL, but you need a car to go everywhere. I like being able to walk to the farmer’s market, gym, park, coffee shop, library, or just around and take everything all in.

APT: That's wonderful. Besides performing, what else do you love to do?
JAC: I really enjoy playing basketball, bicycle riding, going thrifting, and writing. I’ve begun to read more books in addition to plays since being here. Also, trying new foods, whether it be here in Spring Green or Madison. When it’s really clear out in the night, I will go out and look at the stars and try to find new constellations. I’m working on not keeping my head too high in the clouds, though.

APT: I think having your head it the clouds can be a good thing. How have you changed over this summer?
JAC: It’s hard to pick just one. Watching the vets here be curious and playful on and off the stage with each other is inspiring. How they discover new ways to keep shows fresh and lived in over the long run of shows in rep is admirable, in that I feel it requires one to be so present. Also, I think I will take away a deeper appreciation for language. From classical plays, the words said by my friends around me, and even the words of my own.

APT: Amazing. Any special shout-outs you'd like to share?
JAC: Yeah, I’d like to thank God for this opportunity, family for always championing and supporting me. To my close friends for making sure I’m good, to my fellow apprentices for being kind, hardworking, and great people, to Jacque for suggesting this place, and Alys and the APT community for saying yes, and for their support and the opportunity to learn from deeply collaborative individuals. Also, I’d like to thank all the people who are working just as hard to keep this place like a well-oiled machine behind the scenes.

APT: Anything else you'd like to add before we wrap up?
JAC: Yeah, I think the Jolly Rancher company should bring back Jolly Rancher Rocks.