“I’m not sure what kind of magic you worked, but [my son] left more excited and jazzed about something than we’ve seen him be in years! He said tonight was incredibly fun, and it awoke a new passion in him for acting! Thank you for being such an inspiration to him. It was great to see that sparkle in his eye!“
Wiley and the Hairy Man
Current Grades 3-6
Tysons Studio
by Jack Stokes
Set deep within the mysterious Tombigbee Swamp, Wiley and the Hairy Man centers around a young fatherless boy, his conjure-woman mother, his faithful dog, and the Hairy Man who haunts Wiley’s days and dreams. Through rhythm and rhyme, a chorus creates the mystery of the swamp. The magic of this play is not fairy dust, it is soil—the magic of survival, the magic of the earth and the mud of the swamp.
In an exciting duel of wits, Wiley learns to rely upon his own resources and conquers two villains: the Hairy Man and his own fear. A Joseph Jefferson Award winner for Outstanding Children’s Play.
This innovative performance class mounts a professionally directed and fully produced play — with custom-designed costumes, set, props, sound score, and lighting. This production will tour to 4 different venues, performing for a wide variety of audiences.
Auditions are open to students in grades 3-6.
What Families Are Saying
Jody, Parent
Our kids have taken classes year-round. We have not found a better acting program. Our kids have built lasting friendships.
Jeremy, Parent
Staff
Emma Mearns
Teaching Artist, Director for Wiley and the Hairy Man
Emma is a teacher, director, and our former Head of our Elementary School Programs. She has taught all of our elementary school classes and directed both school-year plays and our Mythology Ensemble.
Through her time at Traveling Players, Emma has directed five World Premieres written by our playwright-in-residence, Judith Walsh White: Arachne, Orpheus & Eurydice, Eros & Psyche, Heracles, and Atalanta. Other Judy plays Emma has directed include Persephone, Ariadne’s Thread, and Pandora’s Fire, as well as Alice in Wonderland by William Glennon, Dracula: A Comic Thriller by Kent R. Brown, and Treasure Island adapted by Todd Espeland.
She is a graduate of James Madison University, where she earned her BA in Theatre.
Hana Scarlatoiu
Teaching Artist
Hana (she/her) is a recent undergraduate from Muhlenberg College and alumna of Traveling Players. This will be her fifth summer as a teaching artist for our Day Camps! Hana holds a BA from Muhlenberg College, where she majored in Theatre with a minor in Creative Writing/Journalism. While at Muhlenberg, she performed in numerous departmental theatre and dance productions and choreographed for departmental student dance concerts. Additionally, attended and performed at the American College Dance Association’s (ACDA) 2023 and 2024 conferences and the 2024 Women in Dance Leadership conference. Recently, she’s performed with the Allentown Public Theatre and in Muhlenberg’s production of Everybody by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, playing a Somebody. Her last choreographic work was created for her school’s Reset: New Dances 2025, titled What’s Behind the Radio? It will be featured at the Flair Dance Festival in Collingswood, NJ this June. Hana is drawn to physical and fun approaches to theatre technique.
Hana is thrilled to return to Traveling Players and looks forward to creating more art with young theatre makers.
Frequently Asked Questions
For over 20 years we’ve been creating great theatre in the great outdoors with teens and pre-teens. Our team will happily walk you through any one of our carefully crafted programs.
How do you decide who is accepted?
We accept students who we think will be a good fit for our community – socially and artistically.
We ask students to audition because we’re interested in how you play with others – on stage and off – and with whom you play particularly well. Collaboration, chemistry, dedication, kindness, joy, and imagination are the qualities that allow our ensembles and all our students to thrive.
For Shakespeare Troupe: We accept actors into Troupe by considering the needs of the individuals and the play. Since Troupe is going on a professional performance tour, we have to cast the play with actors who are right (or can stretch into) the roles. We must also have roles that challenge the accepted actors.
The learning opportunities in Troupe, however, are only partly reflected in an actor’s role. The demands of mounting a full-length Shakespeare play on a professional rehearsal schedule are awesome and daunting. It’s the experience of a lifetime!
For Technical Theatre Apprentices: We accept technicians while considering the technical aspects of the season’s plays. We need to ensure each technician has a challenging project to work on so they can grow their skills.
How is Traveling Players known?
Traveling Players has two distinct reputations.
Called a top “25 summer school for the arts” by the National Endowment for the Arts, Traveling Players is known and nationally awarded for our artistic excellence. Our curriculum is rigorous, and the Shakespeare Troupe in particular has been noted for offering artistic challenges “unlike any other pre-college theatre program in the country.” You can read more about our awards and the excellent work of our students and alumni here.
However, if you asked a Traveling Players student, parent, or alum to describe us, they wouldn’t start by talking about the awards we’ve won, or the best show they were in or had seen from us. They would talk about our community.
With a 70% retention rate, our community is vibrant, connected, and kind. Our curriculum is intentionally designed to promote artistic collaboration. We limit our ensembles to just 13 students to ensure that everyone receives individualized training and attention. We select scripts that offer a wide range of roles and cast to maximize each student’s artistic growth. We help foster friendships both in and across ensembles through theatre games, low ropes challenge courses, and structured fun. The result is a community that remains thriving – and always welcoming. You can read more about why parents choose Traveling Players here.
What is your conflict policy? Can I miss a rehearsal or performance?
We ask families to limit absences to no more than two rehearsals. You cannot have any conflicts with tech rehearsals or performances. All conflicts (barring family emergencies and illness) must be submitted when you audition.
As an ensemble theatre company, we try to keep all of our actors active and onstage as much as possible. Our rehearsals are designed to allow us to work on multiple scenes simultaneously, which is uncommon. The benefit is that all of our students, regardless of which role they are playing, stay engaged throughout every rehearsal. The drawback is that it is harder for us to accommodate absences. Acting is collaborative, and it is very hard for young actors to imagine where their scene partner is on the stage and what they are doing.
Absences can impact casting. Our directors generally know which scenes they will work on at each rehearsal before rehearsals begin. An actor might not be able to play a particular role if we know they will be out for the rehearsals when we block that character’s most important scenes. We have cut students we love and who are wonderful actors from the ensemble because they have too many absences.
If you have a conflict, we ask that you do some extra practice at home so that you can catch up as quickly as possible when you return.
Theatre is awesome for teaching kids responsibility, collaboration, and commitment – and missing a rehearsal asks kids to really practice those skills. We’ll talk about how to practice at home during the parent meeting on the first day of rehearsal, and ways you can support your actor throughout the rehearsal process.
What happens at the auditions and interviews during the school year?
AUDITIONS: We know actors can shine in different ways, so we organize our auditions to let actors with different strengths shine. You will read a few scenes (called “sides,” since they are sides of the script), play improvisation games, and participate in ensemble-building activities. The audition is an opportunity for the director to get to know you and see how you work and play with other potential ensemble members. It is also an opportunity for you to get to know your potential castmates.
We have been told that our auditions are significantly more fun than the average audition. We plan to keep it that way!
INTERVIEWS: We’ll discuss your portfolio, interests, current skills, what you want to learn, and how the production can help you achieve your goals. You’ll have a chance to ask us questions, too!
Why do you tour?
We tour because we think it is an invaluable tool for training young actors.
Touring is a huge artistic challenge that teaches adaptability. When touring, you can’t just perform the play you’ve rehearsed in the same space for months on end – you have to make adjustments to suit the venue and the audience in front of you. Touring teaches our actors to respond to the gifts each audience gives. Through touring, actors become bolder, more generous storytellers, and technicians become more adaptable and resourceful.
In addition to their responsibilities onstage (actors) or backstage (technicians), all of our students take on an additional tour job. They might be the person who packs the costumes, or on a team that sets up the sound system. These tour jobs are vital in making the tour run smoothly. They teach our students to work collaboratively and take ownership of a piece of a project.
Plus, touring is a TON of fun! Every Traveling Players alum has a favorite memory from tour. We are the only educational theatre program in the nation that gives students the challenge of touring, and it is a core part of our artistic identity. (And it doesn’t hurt that touring gives you great material for college essays).
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