Classes (grades 2 - 12)

Perfect for beginning performers or those with a bit of experience, this improvisation class gives budding actors the chance to enhance their storytelling skills. By playing fun-filled improvisational theatre games, we will tap into the creative juices of each student while teaching basic acting skills: clarity of thought and action, mental agility, spontaneity, actively listening and responding, and creative problem solving.

Focusing on depth instead of breadth, the class will read one play and perform scenes from it. Students will hone their analytical skills and spark their creative impulses to flesh out their characters so that they truly live on stage in front of us.

A thorough introduction for the beginner and a deeper exploration for those with some experience, this class will focus on listening, liberating the imagination, responding spontaneously, physical and vocal specificity, and committing to choices.  Students will learn how to apply their skills to developing a clear, radiating character.

Sharpen and deepen your acting skills by rehearsing and performing a scene from a contemporary play.  Using theatre games, textual analysis, and physical and vocal exercises, students will learn to develop a distinct character. Perfect for both intermediate and advanced actors alike, students will delve deep into acting technique. This in-depth exploration of character and scene work will embolden students' skills, allowing them to take what they learn and apply it to full productions in the future.

Perfect for college or professional auditions, select and hone two monologues that showcase your strengths as a performer.  Learn the advanced acting techniques that allow you to present your best work to directors/casting agents, or expand your range by tackling new character types. Build your portfolio, get accepted, get the scholarship, or just get the part!

In this intensive class, we will delve into acting techniques, explore textual analysis, physically train the actor’s body and voice, and discuss/practice audition strategies. Class concludes with a showcase of monologues.  The class is devised to hone two monologues, but dedicated students can prepare up to four.

This class is ideal for high school seniors who are preparing audition monologues for college, or anyone who wants to prepare themselves for college, professional, or Shakespeare Troupe auditions.  Alternatively, this class can be taken to expand your range as a performer by tackling monologues of new character types.

How do we as theatre artists approach plays with difficult themes? Traveling Players director, Ryan Fields, will lead this class in discussing and reading contemporary plays. Many contemporary plays, even ones thought revolutionary upon their debut, have embedded biases in the text including, but not limited to, misogynist, racist, and homophobic tropes and ideologies.

Students will read multiple play texts and attend Socratic discussions on the prevailing themes, revealing why and how these shows are still relevant to audiences and strategies when it comes to directing and performing them. Students will also read & watch different adaptations & productions to see how other artists have approached these texts.

Additionally, students will attend a field trip to Branden Jacobs-Jenkins latest play, The Comeuppance, to kickstart their discussions. Instead of a showcase, students will lead their own free & public Community Conversation on Embedded Bias in Classical Literature.

I just wanted to thank you and Traveling Players for all the training you guys have given me in the last three years.  I got third place in my school’s Shakespeare monologue competition [as a freshman], and I give the credit ENTIRELY to the very worthy Traveling Players Ensemble. I love Traveling Players so much and I am glad to have met each and every person I’ve met there!

-Student