Traveling Players Hosts THRILLS & CHILLS: A Festival Of Two Plays

Tickets are now available for Traveling Players' Thrills & Chills play festival, which runs weekends March 9-17 at their Studio in Tysons Corner Center.  Performed by Traveling Players students, the festival will breathe new life into intrepid heroines and memorable monsters, with modern twists on beloved novels. 

Towering champions of the Gothic novel, Charlotte Brontë and Bram Stokertake take center stage in these family-friendly adaptations.  A whimsical parody that is fun for the whole family, Dracula: A Comic Thriller Starring Jennie Watson and Shirley Holmes combines Nancy Drew, and The Sisters Grimm, with a sprinkle of Monty Python's hilarious Holy Grail.   A must-see for any high school AP Literature student –  Brontë's quintessential coming-of-age journey, Jane Eyre leaps off the page in this bold and faithful production. 

About the Plays

Dracula: A Comic Thriller Starring Jennie Watson and Shirley Holmes  

by Kent R. Brown 

Ages 6 + | 60 minutes (no intermission)

Having munched their way through most of the population in rural Transylvania, Count Dracula and his minions have set their sights on the bright lights of London and all the tasty morsels who live therein.  The count must be stopped before all of London becomes his personal buffet! But, alas, Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, the renowned sleuthing duo are vacationing and won't return for weeks. What to do? 

Fortunately, their resourceful nieces, Shirley Holmes and Jennie Watson, would rather save London from annihilation than study for their upcoming exams.  Joined by Sabrina Van Helsing, the daughter of Bram Stoker's celebrated vampire slayer, and some new friends, this courageous band of novice vampire slayers sets off to do battle with the prince of darkness. 

Can Dracula be vanquished before he devours all of London? There are bites and screams galore, and a surprise ending that will delight the whole family! 

Jane Eyre

 Adapted by Dr. Christine Davey from the novel by Charlotte Brontë

Ages 8+ | 85 minutes (no intermission)

Orphaned as an infant, young Jane Eyre has known a lifetime of cruelty.  First at the hands of her tyrannical Aunt Reed and then during her education at a dreary charity school for impoverished children. 

Yet through it all, she yearns for something greater – a life free from the expectations and restrictions of poverty and girlhood that have shackled her.  As Jane exclaims, and the chorus echos, “I am no bird, and no net ensnares me. I am a free human being with an independent will. I am!” 

Join Jane on her eponymous journey into young adulthood, as she crafts an independent life that she can be proud of.  Faithfully adapted by Dr. Davey,  Charlotte Brontë's rich and remarkable novel takes center stage and sparkles with new life, love, and energy. 

The student actors featured in the festival receive professional training and direction, appropriate for their age and experience.  Dracula's performers are in grades 4-6 while Jane Eyre performers are in grades 8-12. 

The casts and crew include the talents of: Greta Brown (Arlington, VA), Maya Campbell (Washington DC), Kal Collins (Vienna, VA), Penelope Cox (Gaithersburg, MD), Kira Crandall (Falls Church, VA), James Cronin (Springfield, VA), Finnin Cullen (McLean, VA), Charlotte Eastright (Washington, DC), Nini Farley (McLean, VA), Naomi Goldstein (Bethesda, MD), Liam Kenny (Bethesda, MD), Faith Martinez (Reston, VA), Ava McElvain (Arlington, VA), Lucy Miller (Arlington, VA), Sydney Peterson (Springfield, VA), Elise Pisz (McLean, VA), Hugo Ratheau (Falls Church, VA), Nora Read (Arlington, VA), Anna Rigby (McLean, VA), Fiona Sarin (Great Falls, VA), Chloe Seaman (Fairfax, VA), and Sophie Woodlock-Feghali (Falls Church, VA). 

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