Traveling Players Ensemble Recently Updated

"1 of 25 Summer Schools of the Arts,”  – The National Endowment for the Arts.

Traveling Players offers a range of programs for theatre students, from advanced performance & technical theatre training in our 6-week pre-college Shakespeare Troupe to 1-week introductory workshops for beginners.

For over 20 years Traveling Players has trained students in theatre.  Founded on faith in the imagination, wit, and honesty of teenagers, Traveling Players' summer programs focus on classical dramatic traditions. Traveling Players’ Studio is in Tysons Corner Center, where we offer classes and performances year-round. 

Our hallmark summer theatre conservatories are by-audition and residential -- nestled in the foothills of the Catoctin Mountains in Leesburg, VA. Actors (grades 4-12) rehearse a play in small, supportive peer groups of only 13 performers with 1-2 technical theatre apprentices. Led by a trio of directors, students receive expert personalized acting training in ensemble-based theatre, text analysis, and stage combat. Each session culminates in at least one professionally staged and designed public performance with plays by Shakespeare, Moliere, and based on Greek Mythology.

Traveling Players emphasizes a meaningful engagement with nature. Our residential programs include a weekly campout – when performers and technicians learn Leave No Trace camping techniques, to pitch tents, and cook outdoors. As artists and backpackers, students learn self-reliance and creative problem-solving, and gain an appreciation of challenges and beauty -- while making lifelong friendships.

Members of our advanced Shakespeare Troupe (grades 9-12) apply the skills they have learned as artists and backpackers to a week-long professional performance tour. Past tours have included performances at the Kennedy Centers’ Millennium Stage, Colonial Williamsburg, and Lime Kiln Theatre.

Shakespeare Troupe

 Young actors (grades 2-5) in the DC-metro area can train at our Day Camp based out of our  Studio in Tysons Corner Center. Our day camps expand imaginations, confidence, and skills while forming new friendships. 

Studio training and performance opportunities are available year-round to students of all ages and levels.

Our training expands far beyond the work our students do on our stages. Our students have received artistic awards and scholarships from universities across the nation. While not all of our alumni choose to pursue theatre professionally, many of them continue to create dramatic art on an extracurricular basis. No matter where they end up, our alumni take life lessons from the arts with them.