Traveling Players Will Presents William Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors This Summer

Traveling Players presents William Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors. The play will tour from July 28 through August 3, 2022.

One of Shakespeare's earliest comedies, this gleefully ridiculous farce follows two pairs of identical twins separated in a great storm. Twenty years later, they are on a mission to reunite! But they must act quickly or their father will be executed for a heinous crime - being from Syracuse! Chaos abounds as the two sets of twins dodge mistaken identities, weighty women, and the forces of the law in Shakespeare's ludicrous four-way identity crisis!

Comedy of Errors features the company's advanced student performance company - Shakespeare Troupe. Identified by the National Endowment for the Arts as "1 of 25 Summer Schools for the Arts" this nationally-unique program offers high school students the opportunity to professionally tour a full-length Shakespearean play. The cast includes the talents of Virginia Durgavich (Arlington, VA), Eli Haslett (Rockville, MD), Brooke Howard (McLean, VA), Milo Jones (Bethesda, MD), Lexi Miller (Arlington, VA), Marcos O'Connor (Arlington, VA), Ana Schneider (Silver Spring, MD), Betty Shanefelter (Silver Spring, MD), and Cary Tran-Trong (Arlington, VA).

The six-week Shakespeare Troupe is just one of several residential summer programs offered by the theatre company. In residence at the Freedom Center, Traveling Players summer camps and conservatories train students in grades 4-12 in theatre while giving them a meaningful connection with nature. At camp, students spend their days in classes and rehearsals and their evenings hiking in the woods, canoeing in the lake, and making s'mores under the stars.

The play was directed and choreographed by Traveling Players' Artistic Director Jeanne E. Harrison. An educator with over 30 years of experience, she has taught theatre for The Folger Shakespeare Library, John Moores University (England), University of Maryland-Baltimore County, Catholic University, The Chapin School, and Interlochen School for the Arts. She was a visiting artist at Loyola University in Baltimore. In 2016, Harrison won the Strauss Award from ArtsFairfax for her integration of classical theatre and physical theatre.

The production features scenic design by Eva Gonzales, costume designs by Erik Mayes, and prop and puppet designs by Lindsay Cavallo.

About Traveling Players

Called "a little-known summer gem" by The Washington Post, Traveling Players is dedicated to training students in grades 3-12 in theatre. Now in its 20th year, the company has grown from a summer camp of 18 students to a year-round theatrical community engaging 1000 students annually. Founded on faith in the imagination, wit, and honesty of teenagers, Traveling Players' summer programs focus on classical dramatic traditions: Moliere, Shakespeare, Commedia dell'Arte, and ancient mythology. Traveling Players' Studio is in Tysons Corner Center, where they offer classes and performances year-round.

In 2020-21, Traveling Players received the ArtsFairfax Arts Education Award.

To find out more about Traveling Players Ensemble, visit http://travelingplayers.org.

Photo credit Chuck Almarez - Fire & Light Gallery

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