Traveling Players Ensemble proudly celebrates its tenth year with the opening of registration for its 2012 Summer Theatre Camp at The Madeira School.

Traveling Players Ensemble is a professional theatre company whose mission is to bring great theatre into the great outdoors.  Founded in 2003 by Producing Artistic Director Jeanne Harrison, the company has grown from a summer camp of 18 campers to a year-round institution serving over 300 teenagers a year.

"The growth has been astounding," says Harrison. "The community that has grown up around Traveling Players exceeds anything I expected. Lots of teenagers have really found their homes here." Traveling Players Ensemble has been invited to perform at the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage, Colonial Williamsburg, Shenandoah National Park, Reston's Multicultural Festival, and the International Children's Festival at Wolf Trap, as well as over 60 other venues throughout Virginia, Maryland and Washington, DC.

In 2007, the company was selected by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) as one of 25 of the nation's "Summer School in the Arts."

The core of the company remains its summer day camp for rising 5th through 12th graders, where they work in small ensembles (up to 13 performers) to rehearse a play under the direction of experienced theatre professionals. The campers spend most of their days outdoors, camping out once a week. Intensive training in Shakespeare, Moliere and Commedia dell'Arte, combined with outdoor skills, low ropes and Leave-No-Trace camping ethics, creates an experience that is unique in the world of theatre programs.

In the final week of each session, the teens tour their show by bus, giving them the experience of wandering entertainers who carry their dinner, tent and props in their trusty pack.
Since 2007, the camp has been in residence at The Madeira School in McLean, VA. The camp's signature purple buses provide daily transportion throughout the DC Metro area.
Camp begins on June 25th and runs through August 24th. A regular session is 4 weeks long. The camp also offers 1- and 2-week intensives, and advanced troupes with sessions up to 7 weeks.

The camper-to-counselor ratio is 4:1. Need-based scholarships are available for all programs. This summer's ensembles will perform Moliere's Scapin, Carlo Gozzi's The Blue Monster, Shakespeare's Tempest and As You Like It and a new Commedia dell'Arte play, La Guerra delle Stelle.

New this summer are a two-week camp for rising 5th to 7th graders, which creates a play based on Greek mythology, a one-week sampler for middle schoolers, and a one-week improvisation camp for high schoolers.

Auditions for Traveling Players Ensemble's two advanced summer programs will be held in January and February.
The Traveling Troupe is an intensive 7-week program that performs a full-length production of As You Like It. Auditions are Monday, January 16th and Monday, February 20th.
The Commedia Troupe is a 5-week program that teaches the classical style of Commedia dell'Arte and creates an original play. This year's play is a new swashbuckling comedy, La Guerra delle Stelle. Auditions are Sunday, January 15th, Sunday, February 19th and Saturday, April 14th.
For more information, visit www.travelingplayers.org or call 703-987-1712.