PlayMakers Repertory Company’s Summer Youth Conservatory will feature Theatre Intensive, Theatre Quest and Theatre Tech programs for high school and middle school students, and culminate in a production of Stephen Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.”

The Conservatory is a unique educational and performance opportunity that includes working with professional directors, choreographers and musical directors at a premiere professional theater.

The N.C. Theatre Conference has recognized the Conservatory as “a model program for youth theater in North Carolina,” by making professional training more accessible to youth of the Triangle.

“Sweeney Todd” will be directed by Tom Quaintance, artistic director of Cape Fear Regional Theatre in Fayetteville. He has helmed previous Conservatory productions including “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Music Man” and “Oliver!” He also directed PlayMakers’ “The Little Prince” and co-directed “The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby” with PlayMakers producing artistic director Joseph Haj.

Theatre Intensive and “Sweeney Todd” will be cast by audition only.

Auditions for rising ninth graders through recent high school graduates will take place in the evening on March 1 and throughout the day March 2 at PlayMakers, located in the Center for Dramatic Art, Country Club Road, on the UNC campus. Callbacks are scheduled for March 3.

For the young actors cast, five weeks of intensive training and rehearsal begin June 17, Monday through Friday. Five public performances of “Sweeney Todd” will take place July 17-21. Cast members will be expected to attend all rehearsals. Tuition is $1,500/actor, with scholarships available based on financial need.

In addition to training young actors, the Conservatory offers

• TheatreTech – an in-depth program in scenic, costume, and lighting production. It includes technical classes followed by a month-long apprenticeship with PlayMakers’ professional staff.

TheatreTech enrollment is based on application and subsequent interview and is limited to rising juniors and seniors and recent high school graduates. Classes begin June 12. Apprenticeship appointments run through July 24.

Tuition is $750, with scholarships available based on financial need.

• Theatre Quest – a series of week-long classes for middle school students in a variety of subjects: Principles of Acting, Shakespeare and Stage Combat, Acting for the Camera, Musical Theatre I: Solo Showcase, and Musical Theatre II: ShowStoppers. Students can participate in one week of training or all five. Teachers are John Dreher, Katja Hill, David McClutchey and Estes Tarver.

Theatre Quest students can enroll by contacting PlayMakers education manager Jennifer Wales at 919-962-2491 or jwales@unc.edu. Tuition is $300 per week.