Jeanne E. Harrison founded Traveling Players in 2003 as a nurturing, challenging, educational theatrical community to bring great theatre into the great outdoors. In our first year, we had 18 students and toured our plays to Shenandoah National Park, where we performed As You Like It while backpacking off the Appalachian Trail. That is probably the quintessential Traveling Players play – you escape into the woods and return transformed.
Transformation is at the heart of what we do. We limit the ensembles to only 13 students so that we can give every student the attention they deserve. We only work with students (in grades 1-12) who are literally transforming before our eyes as they grow up, become the next best version of themselves, and, on stage, take on bold roles in our plays. All of this is to help them on their way to adulthood, when they will impact our world.
The basic formula remains the same, but many details have changed since our founding in 2003. We serve over 1000 students a year, offering programs year-round in our Studio in Tysons Corner Center, a major shopping center. We have won national awards for our comprehensive and intensive curricula, and we have seen our alums perform on Broadway and in the West End, serve as Artistic Directors, have their plays published, and become theatre professors. We still tour our plays to the community in our signature purple school buses.
I always knew I could form student ensembles that could create wonderful art while challenging themselves and each other. What I didn’t know was that I was creating friendships that would last a lifetime – the people who will be your “maid of honor/best man” at your wedding. Traveling Players’ friendships endured well beyond summer, through college and adulthood. As an alum said, “Most adults don’t name their summer camp as a central part of their identity.” Traveling Players do.