Winter Performances: Thespians
This performance class mounts a play using a tight ensemble of middle school actors. The play will be professionally directed and fully produced — with custom-designed costumes, set, props, sound score, and lighting. The show will be performed in our Studio at Tysons Corner Center for your friends and family — as well as the public!
This innovative class is for experienced performers as well as less experienced actors who are eager and dedicated.
For current 7th – 9th graders.
LIMITED AVAILABILITY: Cast size is limited 12 to performers. We recommend registering for the first audition you can attend.
AUDITIONS
- November 21, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm
- December 12, 1:00 — 3:00 pm
- January 2, 12:30 — 1:30 pm
- January 6, 5:00 — 5:45 pm
- Register for either audition by November 21 at midnight to claim the Early Bird Discount!
- 7th & 9th graders: See below — Swing Years
REHEARSAL & PERFORMANCE
- Saturdays & Sundays, January 8 — March 20
the odyssey
By Gregory A. Falls and Kurt Beattie
Join Penelope as she waits for her husband Odysseus to return from the Trojan War. After 10 long years of battle, Troy has fallen, and the Greeks are finally returning home. But a slight against Poseidon, God of the Sea, veers Odysseus and his soldiers far off course. For 10 more years, he must sail the world, battle great monsters, and brave the River Styx; while at home Penelope must fight battles of her own against greedy suitors who wish to steal the throne. Based on Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey is an adventure about community, overcoming fate, and finding honor in humility.
Our kids have taken classes year round. We have not found a better acting program. Our kids have built lasting friendships with the staff and fellow campers.
— Parent
Western theatre was born in Ancient Greece, at religious festivals dedicated to the gods. Playwrights competed with one another by submitting trilogies of plays on history and mythology. This winter, Traveling Players is heading back in time to continue that tradition – with three Ancient Tales for a Modern World.
Our youngest actors (Players, grades 4-7), take on the oldest story: the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur in Ariadne’s Thread. This adaptation was commissioned by Traveling Players from locally renowned playwright Judith Walsh White. Follow along as this gripping tale gives us new insight into the meaning of family.
Travel forward in time with our middle school actors (Thespians, grades 7-9), as they weave through Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, an adventure about community, overcoming fate, and finding honor in humility.
We continue our journey with the Trojan War and its aftermath in Hecuba by Euripides, tackled by our high school actors (Dramatists, grades 9-12). Reduced to slavery, grieving Hecuba lives on the hope that her two remaining children survive. But the victorious Greeks prove to be both friend and foe as she seeks justice.
The three casts will delve into the ancient world together, finding connections between plays, myths and casts. We will create bonding activities so that the actors can kindle friendships and memories as they prepare for our modern Festival of Dionysus! The original March Madness!
Festival Schedule:
Performance Dates – March 12, 13, 19, 20
11 am – Ariadne’s Thread
3 pm – The Odyssey
7:30 pm – Hecuba
Our Winter Performances require an audition to enroll. There’s a $20 audition fee.
There is nothing to memorize in advance of the audition. The “sides” (parts of the play that you’ll read during auditions) will be emailed to you in advance, so you can familiarize yourself with them. The more you know about the play and characters, the more quickly you’ll distinguish between characters at the audition, so feel free to do research, if you have the time.
We create a fun and supportive environment where returning Traveling Players can reconnect with friends and newcomers can be welcomed to our community. Over the course of the audition, you will read from the script as well as take part in improvisations and discussions. Our community develops acting skills in an environment noted for its work ethic, creativity and kindness.
We’ve been told that Traveling Players auditions are the most fun auditions our students have ever attended. We intend to keep it that way.
Auditions are binding, meaning if you are accepted, then you must enroll. If you attend auditions and discover Traveling Players is not the ensemble for you, then please email us within 24 hours after the audition to withdraw your audition.
Audition decisions are generally emailed out a week after the auditions. We can’t wait to meet you!
- Classes are in-person.
- All students and staff wear masks at all times.
- Temperature is checked upon arrival.
- All staff are fully vaccinated.
- All students are required to be vaccinated.
- High-touch surfaces are disinfected between classes.
- Our Studio is fully compliant with CDC recommended safety standards, guidelines, and practices, in addition to Tysons Corner Center, Fairfax County and Virginia Department of Health (VDH).
- For the performances, our actors will perform unmasked, wearing safety masks backstage. Our audience will be masked and required to show proof of vaccination or a negative Covid test within 48 hours of the performance. To ensure social distancing, we will reduce the audience to 60% capacity.
- We are continuing to monitor local community transmission levels. If appropriate, we are prepared to move rehearsals and the performances online to Zoom (as we successfully did last year). We doubt this will be necessary.
In 2021, Traveling Players welcomed 90+ students and 25+ staff for 6 weeks of in-person residential camp without a single case of COVID-19. Our community’s vaccination rate greatly exceeds the local average (between 85% and 95%).
In 2020, Traveling Players’ programs were held online. We produced five highly successful play festivals over Zoom, ranging from ridiculous farces to stark tragedies.
Needless to say, we’re prepared for whatever the future holds!
Dates: Saturdays & Sundays, January 8 — March 20
Cast Size: 12-14
Director & Props Master: Morgan Shotwell
Assistant Director: Emma Mearns
Scenic Designer: Jeffrey Hales
Costume Designer: Wallace Crehan
Lighting Designer: Rae Mearns
Tuition: $1100 ($1150 after the Early Bird Discount flies away November 21 at midnight).
- Includes professionally designed costumes & props!
- Tuition may be split into three installments (deposit, Jan 1, Feb 1). A $20 administrative fee applies to this payment option.
- The Traveling Players Difference
- Information on Financial Aid
- 7th Grade Swings: you will audition for both the Players and Thespians plays. We will ask you your preference after the audition.
- 9th Grade Swings: please audition only once (either for the Thespians or the Dramatists) – for the program that you are more interested in. We will take your preference into consideration when deciding ensemble assignments, but will place you in the ensemble that we feel is most appropriate for your growth as a performer.
Please do not be discouraged if you are placed in a different ensemble than your preference. It is likely because we think you will receive a better challenge or more leadership opportunities in the other ensemble.
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
7th and 9th graders have choices at Traveling Players! You can choose to either age up into an older age group, or stay and be a leader in the younger age group – either way you’re sure to have a ton of fun!
Current 7th Graders
- If you’re new to theatre, or you just finished the Acting Sampler Week or the Mythology Ensemble, we recommended that you stay in the 4th– 7th grade program. Most of your friends from the summer will be here and you will work with many of the amazing teachers you already know and love.
- If you’re looking for a new challenge, or if you were a part of the Thespian Ensemble we recommend that you join our 7th-9th grade program.
- If you’re auditioning for the Winter Performances but don’t know which group to choose, please attend the Thespians audition. During registration, you’ll be able to opt in to simultaneous consideration for the Players group.
Current 9th Graders
- If you’re new to theatre, or if you just finished our Thespian Ensemble, we recommended that you stay in the 7th-9th grade program. Most of your friends from the summer will be here, and you will work with many of the amazing teachers you already know and love.
- If you’re looking for a new challenge, or if you were a part of the Shakespeare Ensemble, we recommend that you join our 9th-12th grade program.
- If you’re auditioning for the Winter Performances but don’t know which group to choose, please attend the Dramatists audition. During registration, you’ll be able to opt in to simultaneous consideration for the Thespians group.
If you have any questions about which program would be perfect for you please call (703-987-1712) or email (campdirector@
After the final performance […] I was so sad to put my costumes on the front porch, to be picked up. I thought about all I had learned in four weeks, the fun I had, and the friends I had made. It all went by so quickly, and I will really miss it all. I can’t wait to come back next year, and see everyone again! After a lonely spring with the quarantine and COVID-19, this was a great way to reconnect with like-minded friends and jump-start my summer in the most amazing way!
— Student