Radio
- NPR Code Switch – August 2019
- Washington Report – May 2019
- WAMU – Spring 2010
- WAMU – August 2009
- WAMU – April 2004

The Washington Post
Commedia Dell'Arte For the Budding teen comedian
During the five-week Commedia Troupe program, 13 high school students — admitted via audition — will study commedia dell’arte, a style of improvised theatre credited with introducing slapstick comedy and other popular theatrical conventions.
“Essentially, they didn’t have cartoons in the 17th century —they had this,” says Toby Mulford, Traveling Players’ associate artistic director, and the founder and director of the Commedia Troupe. Summer program participants “learn really big, broad physical characterizations and other aspects of this style, and they get to experience building a play through improvisation with each other.” Students spend the final nine days of camp on tour, performing an original commedia play at places like the Lime Kiln Amphitheater in Lexington, Va. It’s never too early, after all, for a budding comedian’s grand debut.



NATURE AND HEALTH
The camp tradition began more than a century ago as a way of offering a healthy, natural environment for city youth. Today, maybe more than ever, one of the most important benefits of going to camp is the chance to experience the natural world, observes Richard Louv, author of “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder.”
Spending time in nature is essential for healthy child development, says Louv. An outdoor-oriented camp “can stimulate full use of the senses,” he says. His research indicates that experiences in nature encourage clearer thinking, extend the attention span, and strengthen children’s ability to deal with the world. “Immersion in nature is something we need at some level that we don’t fully understand,” says Louv. Many kids’ first spiritual encounters take place in nature, where they discover something larger than themselves.
With the right program, people, and setting, a child’s camp experience can have a huge impact. “Many adults say their camp experience changed their life. It influences how they make decisions as adults,” says [Peg] Smith of the American Camp Association. “I think all children should have the opportunity to go to camp.”
Traveling Players Ensemble. This innovative program for middle school and high school students provides intensive, classical theatre training to small troupes of actors. Campers are carefully guided by professional theater artists to perform in outdoor amphitheatres. The program reflects the days when troupes of actors roamed the ancient and medieval countryside, relying on bare props and bold imagination to convey their art. Campers meet daily at The Madeira School in McLean, and transportation is included in the fee. Each session culminates in a backpacking trip in Shenandoah National Park, Colonial Williamsburg, or another outdoor setting, where students perform.

LITTLE-KNOWN SUMMER GEM!
New this year for the budding actor is the Traveling Players Ensemble, a day camp that includes some overnight camping. It’s based at Camp Calleva in Darnestown, MD, one of the area’s premier outdoor adventure day camps. Traveling Players Ensemble participants ride to and from camp on the same buses as the Camp Calleva kids. Jeanne Harrison, director of the Traveling Players Ensemble camp, has directed the Shakespeare program at Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan and is former Camp Director at Valley Mill Camp and other outdoor programs. Her philosophy: If actors get ropes training to build teamwork and backpacking experience to build resourcefulness, they’ll be able to take the show wherever they go.Selected National and Regional Press Coverage
- McLean Patch – March 2023
- Broadway World – March 2023
- Broadway World – February 2023
- FFXNow – December 2022
- Sun Gazette – December 2022
- Broadway World – July 2022
- Broadway World – July 2022
- McLean Connection – July 2022
- Fairfax Now – July 2022
- Broadway World – May 2022
- DC Metro Theater Arts – April 2022
- Sun Gazette – March 2022
- DCist – March 2022
- Broadway World – March 2022
- McLean Patch – February 2022
- Tysons Reporter – December 2021
- Tysons Reporter – July 2021
- Tysons Reporter – December 2020
- Tysons Partnership – November 2020
- InsideNoVA – May 2020
- Fairfax Times – February 2020
- McLean Connection – February 2020
- Tysons Reporter – January 2020
- Washington Parent – November 2019
- McLean Connection – October 2019
- Fairfax Times – October 2019
- Broadway World – May 2019
- Washington Post – February 2019
- Washington Post – July 2017
- Northern Virginia Magazine – March 2017 (Northern Virginia Magazine Best Camp winner!)
- Montgomery County Sentinel – March 2017
- Loudoun Times-Mirror – April 2016
- Washington Post – April 2012 (coverage of our performance for the Fairfax County budget hearing)
- McLean Connection – April 2012
- The Fairfax Times – October 2011
- McLean Connection – August 2010
- Washington Post – August 2010
- Fairfax Station/Burke Connection – July 2010
- Washingtonian – July 2010
- Broadway World – July 2010
- Virginia Gazette – July 2010
- Trail Voice – April 2010
- Northern Virginia Magazine – February 2010
- WAMU – August 2009
- The Roanoke Times – August 2009
- BroadwayWorld.com – July 2009
- The Washington Post – February 2007, 2003 (see articles on top and bottom of page)
- Times Community Newspaper – July 2006
- The Northwest Current – August 2005
- WAMU’s “Metro Connection” – April 2004
Coverage by the Great Falls and McLean Connection
Traveling Players is thankful to have received recurrent coverage from the Great Falls and McLean Connection.
- Traveling Players Perform Free Family-Friendly Plays – July 2022
- Traveling Players Studio Opens in Tysons Corner Center – February 2020
- Traveling Players Comes to Tysons – October 2019
- Traveling Players Ensemble Brings Shakespeare and White to Life – August 2017
- Traveling Players Ensemble Brings Shakespeare and White to Life – August 2017
- Traveling Players Ensemble to Perform at Madeira – August 2017
- Traveling Players to Present Three Classical Plays – July 2017
- Traveling Players to Present Three Classical Plays – July 2017
- Traveling Players Ensemble to Perform at Madeira – March 2017
- Traveling Players Ensemble Finishes Winter Tour – March 2017
- Great Falls: ‘Snow White’ at Riverbend Park – August 2016
- Area Choreographer and Theater Director Win $5,000 Grant – June 2016
- Great Theatre in Great Falls – August 2013
- Theater in the Great Outdoors – August 2011
- Classic Theater in the Outdoors – July 2010
- Classic Theater in the Outdoors – July 2009
- Imagination and Improvisation – January 2009
- Theater Under the Stars – August 2008
- Traveling Players Awarded National Grant – May 2008
- Teenagers, Theater and the Great Outdoors (PDF) – June 2007 (click here to see it in the Connection’s archives)
- International Intrigue – September 2006
- Getting to Know Jeanne E. Harrison – April 2006

Press Releases
- Congressman Gerry Connolly and Supervisor Dalia Palchick join student actors on stage in Traveling Players’ Commedia Christmas Carol – December 2022
- Hecuba Seeks Peace: Teens perform Ancient War Tragedy; Peace Educator of the Year leads post-show discussion – March 2022
- Traveling Players Receives National Endowment for the Arts Grant for Superior Arts Education – May 2021
- Ribbon Cutting for Traveling Players Studio in Tysons Corner Center – January 2020
- Traveling Players Performs Tricks & Treats on Tysons Plaza – October 2019
- Merchant of Venice Seeks Peace: Teens perform Shakespeare’s “anti-Semitic play”; Peace Educator of the Year leads post-show discussion – February 2019
- Traveling Players Performs a Festival of Three Classical Comedies – June 2018
- Traveling Players Awarded $10,000 for Scholarships by Jack Kent Cooke Foundation – May 2018
- Traveling Players Alum Returns Home, Starring in Othello – April 2018
- Traveling Players holds Auditions April 15 for Advanced Theatre Camps – April 2018
- Students Actors Donate Performances of Winnie the Pooh & Friends to Communities – March 2018
- Students Actors Perform World’s Oldest Anti-War Play – March 2018
- Traveling Players Press Release, Good Neighbor Grant – April 2016
- Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Press Release, Good Neighbor Grant – April 2016
