Summer Camps & Conservatories FAQs

For all auditioned programs you will need to prepare some material to present. You can find the required material below. Please choose ONE (1) to perform at your audition.

• Mythology Ensemble
• Thespian Ensemble
• Shakespeare Ensemble
• Comedy Ensemble

For Shakespeare Troupe, please prepare a Shakespeare monologue of your choice, 14 - 18 lines in length, from any show other than Cymbeline.

• Multiweek - $25
• Sibling Discount - $25
• Referral Rebate - $25
• Early Bird (enroll by Jan 31) - $25 - $35 

• Multisession - $250
• Sibling Discount - $250
• Referral Rebate - $250
• Early Bird (enroll by Jan 31) - ensemble dependent:
  • Mythology Ensemble - $200
  • Thespian Ensemble - $300
  • Comedy Ensemble - $300
  • Shakespeare Ensemble - $300
  • Technical Theatre (3wk) - $300
  • Shakespeare Troupe - $400
  • Technical Theatre (6wk) - $400

Yes! You can have one, two, or all of the discounts, if applicable. This also means if you have 3 children enrolled, you will receive the sibling discount twice.

The sibling discount will be applied to the Day Camp enrollment. For the referral rebate, it will be applied to the camp the referred student enrolls in (i.e. your friend enrolls in Sleepaway, we would apply the $250 rebate to your Sleepaway reservation).

Traveling Players is committed to making arts education accessible to everyone. We are proud to offer need-based financial aid for all of our programs with no annual or lifetime caps. Once approved for financial aid, you can be extended aid for a full calendar year before needing to reapply. 

Anyone who believes they are in need is encouraged to apply, but those who usually receive significant amounts of aid are families with a combined annual income of $140,000 or less, or those with extenuating circumstances (i.e. medical bills, parents/guardians on deployment, changing family circumstances).  Financial Aid is extended on a sliding scale - the more need demonstrated, the more aid granted.

Yes. Financial Aid lasts for a full calendar year, then you must reapply. For example, if you first applied for aid for Summer 2024, you would need to reapply for Summer 2025.

However, you will not need to provide us with a teacher recommendation or interview as we already know you.

This varies family to family and year to year. We can offer anywhere between 10% - 95% of tuition as aid. The amount offered will depend on funding from donations & grants, number of applicants, and need of applicants from year to year.

Yes, but due to grant stipulations we prioritize local students. If you live out of the area and would like to apply for financial aid, we recommend applying as early as possible.

1. For Sleepaway Camps & Troupe: Register to audition/interview for the program that your student would like to attend.  Please submit all following materials before your audition/interview. Once program acceptances have been sent out based on the audition/interview, we will begin to consider your Financial Aid application.
   • Please contact jeharrison@travelingplayers.org or 703-987-1712 if you need audition fees waived. 
2. For Day Camps:  The parent should contact us programassistant@travelingplayers.org or 703-987-1712. If we determine you are a good candidate for financial aid, then we will give you a code to temporarily hold a space while your application is being processed.
3. The student writes a letter to Artistic Director Jeanne Harrison explaining why they want to be a member of Traveling Players’ summer programs or classes and what special qualities they would bring to the ensemble.
4. The student asks a teacher or coach who knows them well to fill out a recommendation form:
   • Recommendation for Financial Aid – Summer.
   • Recommendation for Financial Aid – Classes.
5. Parents complete the Financial Aid Application Form and provide a copy of their most recent federal tax return to verify your eligibility for financial aid.  Please do NOT email your taxes.  Snail mail them (P.O. Box 1315, Great Falls, VA 22066) or use an encrypted email service.
   • Please block out your social security numbers; we don’t need those.

Financial Aid is considered on a rolling basis. This means we will be awarding summer aid as early as December. Please apply as early as possible to give yourself the best chance of receiving the funding you need.

Our Financial Aid committee meets once a month to review applications and make decisions. You should find out about a month after your application is complete. This includes program acceptance for Sleepaway & Troupe. Once you have received your offer, you have a week to accept and put down a deposit of 30% of what your portion of the tuition. You may then schedule payments as necessary with the full amount being due April 15.

Christchurch Boarding School

• Historic boarding school in Virginia’s "Northern Neck," close to Williamsburg, Richmond, and Norfolk
• Scenic, waterfront campus overlooks the Rappahannock River, complete with private dock and beach access
• Private and secure property (125 acres), includes state-of-the-art facilities
• 2.5 hours from Traveling Players' Studio in Tysons Corner Center

Address for Directions: 
49 Seahorse Lane, Christchurch, VA 23031

Mailing Address: 
<Camper’s Name>
Traveling Players
c/o Christchurch School
49 Seahorse Lane
Christchurch, Virginia 23031

We will have an Open House in May for families and friends to tour our campus before camp starts.

Over the summer, we do a drive-thru drop off for students, so this will be the only chance for parents to see everything at camp!

One large, modern dormitory will house all our students, maintaining a sense of community while giving each age group their own space!

• Campers live in cozy dorm rooms with 2 or 3 roommates - plus AC! 
• Campers live with near-age peers in their room and on their hall, expanding their friendships to other ensembles.
• Bathrooms are just down the hall  Campers can take a hot shower every day! 
• Each floor houses a different age group, and each hall has "dorm parents," specially trained counselors who create joy outside of rehearsal hours.  
• Staff live in private rooms on each floor so that they are nearby, attentive, and available, while still allowing campers an appropriate level of privacy.
• Each floor's Lounge is a center for community!  With big comfy couches for relaxing, memorizing lines, and hanging out with your friends, it's the perfect spot to hang out after rehearsal. 
• Each floor also has a study/craft/game room where you can leave out a puzzle, card game, or board game!
• During our daily free period, campers are free to move between floors, so you can hang out with your friends no matter where you live!
• Also in that dorm: the cafeteria, the laundromat, and the infirmary.

The three floors are divided by grade. The exact ages change every year depending on the breakout of camp, but typically they are grades 4-7, 7-9, & 9-12. Campers are then divided by gender into separate rooms.

• The most exciting feature Christchurch's property has to offer is private river access. During free time campers will be allowed to swim, kayak, canoe, paddleboard, and fish right in the Rappahannock!
• Adventure will surround us! There are several basketball courts, an indoor track, riverside firepits for s’mores, and a beach for stargazing!

• We’ll be rehearsing outdoors all day, enjoying everything Mother Nature has to offer! All our theatrical spaces are complete with shade and nearby restrooms.
• Indoor and outdoor rain spaces keep students safe and rehearsing all day long – no matter the weather!
• Both the Costume & Scene shops have AC and large windows which let in natural light – keeping everyone comfortable while working.
• Christchurch's Maker's Space allows our technical students to push the bounds of their creativity. A plethora of machines and tools exist in the space including a 3D printer!

Nope! We are not associated with any religion. Campers of all religions are welcome to come make great theatre in the great outdoors!

Christchurch Boarding School, our summer location partner, is part of the progressive tradition of Episcopal schools.

Traveling Players maintains a 1:4 staff to student ratio. That means our students are more than just in our sight, but receiving personalized training and attention.  Directors are master teachers with many years of experience in both professional theatre and theatre education.  Along with their professional achievements, our faculty is trained in First Aid & CPR and Leave No Trace outdoor ethics.  Every director is supported by two assistant directors, who are working on or have received their BA, BFA or MFA in theatre.

Our Artistic Director personally interviews every member of our staff and selects them for their proven skills as educators, artists, and role models.

We do not employ Counselors In Training (CITs). All employees of Traveling Players are rigorously background checked.  All staff attend two weeks of on-site orientation.

Our staff is our biggest asset — comprised of talented artist educators who work professionally in the DC-metro area and around the world. A significant number of our staff are alums of our program, proof that the Traveling Players community remains dear to their hearts.

All our staff receive American Red Cross First Aid, CPR, and EpiPen training. Several staff are certified in Wilderness First Aid.

Our staff have a high level of physical competency. Many of them have run marathons, hiked the Appalachian Trail, or are certified lifeguards.

If medical services are needed, Riverside Walter Reed Hospital is located less than 30 minutes from campus.

We dedicate a full day of staff orientation to practicing how to keep our students in safe boundaries with our on-call social worker. Zena Carmel-Jessup is a Maryland Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 20 years of experience training staff and working with children and families.

Cell phones, iPods, kindles, smart watches, fitness trackers, other Bluetooth devices, etc. are NOT allowed at camp.

Almost all sleepaway/residential camps strictly forbid cell phones and electronics, and we agree with their stance.  The reasons for this are many:

• According to U.S. News and NPR, smartphone-mediated communication interferes with the positive educational and developmental impact of camp on children of all ages.
  • A 2014 UCLA study of sixth graders at an outdoor camp found that in just 5 days without a screen, students were better able to pick up on nonverbal emotional cues.
• The rough-and-tumble environment of summer camp is hard on delicate and expensive electronics, which are particularly vulnerable to loss and breakage.
• Unplugged doesn’t mean disconnected. You can send you camper letters & care packages (we recommend limiting yourself to 1 care package in a 3 week stay, but you can send letters everyday if you’d like!)
  • <Camper’s Name>
    Traveling Players
    c/o Christchurch School
    49 Seahorse Lane
    Christchurch, Virginia 23031
  • No food in care packages, please!
• You can also email your camper!
  • Subject:  letter for CAMPER NAME
    campassistant@travelingplayers.org
• Some personal electronics (for instance, a single-function white noise generator for kids with sleep disorders) may be acceptable for use at camp. Please contact the office to check in with us before camp.
• Campers with standing therapy appointments will, of course, be able to attend those. We will provide phones to campers for them to use. Please email campdirector@travelingplayers.org with the appointment time and doctor’s phone number. 
• Campers who are starting college this year will have access to their phones for the purposes of registering for classes, filling out their paperwork, et cetera.
• Students doing Shakespeare Troupe can bring their phone after the mid-simmer vacation and will have access to it during selected times while on tour. 
• It’s very important that parents do not rely on their children’s cell phones as being their contact number should something come up.  If something comes up during camp  (family emergency on your end, camper not feeling well on our end), please call the Camp Office at 703-987-1712 (or expect a call from the camp office).  The camp director will make sure your child, as well as his/her staff members, are up to date with anything that’s going on.  By keeping us in the loop, we are better able to care for your child.

We really appreciate your compliance with this policy, and hope your camper can “disconnect to reconnect”!

We travel with the students for field trips, performances, and tour. Our fleet of six purple buses have a spotless safety record. All of our buses are professionally maintained by our experienced on-call diesel mechanic. We employ a commercial driver trainer to personally train all of our drivers. All of our bus drivers are drug tested before the summer begins and randomly tested throughout the summer.  A bus counselor engages students in games (a mobile improv class!) while the driver focuses on the road. 

Traveling Players offers shuttle service to and from Richmond International Airport (RIC) on the first and last day of every session.

There is an $160 fee each way to use the shuttle service. If you are interested in using the shuttle service please email outreach@travelingplayers.org for further booking details.

Shuttle Dates for 2025
Arrival Dates – June 22, July 13
Return Dates – July 5, 11, 26 & August 1

Traveling Players is unable to arrange shuttle service to any airport other than Richmond International Airport (RIC).

Unaccompanied Minors (aged 14 and under for most airlines) 

Unaccompanied Minor is a term used by the airlines for a fee-based escort service for a young traveler. The airlines charge a separate fee for this service. Each airline has its own specific requirements for transporting young travelers. We recommend that families check with the air carrier to determine what requirements apply to a minor child. See below for unaccompanied minor information for main airline carriers.

• United Unaccompanied Minors 
• American Air Unaccompanied Minors 
• Delta Unaccompanied Minors 
• Southwest Unaccompanied Minors 
• Jet Blue Unaccompanied Minors

We also recommend that you schedule flights early in the day. Airlines will not board an unaccompanied minor if any flights of the trip are the last flight of the day.

Luggage

If you are planning to ship your luggage to camp please allow at least two weeks for items to arrive at Christchurch School from the continental U.S. and Canadian sites and longer from other locations. Place origin and destination addresses, and phone numbers, inside shipped items in case exterior tags become lost. It is recommended to ship belongings in boxes that can be reused at the end of the session.

To ship luggage and boxes in advance use the following address and include the student’s arrival date:

<Camper’s Name>
Traveling Players
c/o Christchurch School
49 Seahorse Lane
Christchurch, Virginia 23031

Shipping Luggage Home

Campers who shipped their luggage to camp can elect to ship their luggage home after camp. Families will be responsible for the cost of shipment from camp and an additional $25 convenience fee.

If you are coming from out of town, we will help you to find a castmate that you can stay with over the mid-summer break! Traveling Players is fortunate to have a welcoming and interconnected community.  Just let us know that you are interested in being hosted, and we will connect you with other families in your ensemble. 

We recommend that you pack both sheets and a blanket and a sleeping bag. The kids will spend a couple nights in tents so the sleeping bag will be good for that, and the dorm will have AC so sheets and blankets will be good then. The sleeping bag can be used as the blanket if it unzips entirely.

Storage space in the dorm room is limited.  Please do your best to pack efficiently.  Luggage that fits underneath bunks is highly preferred as it will be more easily stored.

The kids will need a small daypack to carry their script, pencils, water bottle, camera, etc., but only Shakespeare Troupe will need a framed camping backpack.

You can bring laundry pods if they are powdered.  We don’t want parents to send liquid detergent since it could create a huge mess. Your student can also buy detergent from the camp store.  Campers should pack about 12 days’ worth of clothes.

Mythology Ensemble will NOT do laundry - please pack accordingly.

We will do extra laundry as needed (i.e. big rainstorm, surprise period, etc.) 

Please do NOT send food in your care packages.  We like to keep the nature in nature, and food invites critters into the dorm.

Please also refrain from sending items such as electronics and medications (over the counter or prescription). These items should be handed over to camp staff on move-in day. 

Campers eat a delicious, diverse, and healthy menu. Every meal will offer a vegetarian and non-vegetarian entree.

Learn more about the food for Summer 2025.

• Of course!  We have found that the most effective way for campers to attend therapy while at camp is by phone call – that way they are not distracted by notifications from their personal devices when they log on for their appointments. We will provide phones for campers to use – and a hammock might be available, too! If possible, please move their appointment time to between 4:00 – 6:00 pm on a weekday, which is during their free time. Please email campdirector@travelingplayers.org with the appointment time and doctor’s phone number.
• Phone calls are preferred, but if a video call is required by your child's therapist, please let us know so we can plan accordingly.

• Students who are starting college this year will have limited access to their phones for the purposes of registering for classes, filling out their paperwork, etc. Please contact the camp director in advance for further information. We’ll make sure they don’t miss any deadlines during their stay with us!