Ossining Students Rehearse for Scotland's Festival Fringe

The elite group of drama students that will attend the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer have spent months fundraising for an experience of a lifetime. They held an online “12 Days of Fringe” auction during the holiday season, bake sales, Gimme the Mic concerts, face painting events and even a Mom Cabaret.

As they near their goal, the actors are focusing on their craft. They will be performing Mary Zimmerman’s “Metamorphoses” at the 22nd annual American High School Theatre Festival, which runs in conjunction with the prestigious Fringe Festival. The Fringe Festival debuted in 1947 and is the world’s largest performing arts celebration.

Eleventh-grader Kate Flynn said participating in the production and traveling to Scotland for the Fringe Festival is a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.” The play “Metamorphoses” is a modern adaptation of an epic poem by the Roman poet Ovid. The hundreds of myths in Ovid’s work share the common theme of metamorphosis.

“Not only are we getting the chance to perform four productions for an international audience, but we get to be a part of the creative process as well,” she said. “Not to mention the fact that we are traveling to Scotland. That’s something that I know most of us would never have the opportunity to do otherwise.”

More than 2,500 high schools were nominated to participate in the American High School Theatre Festival. About 50 high schools from the United States and Canada will perform in Scotland this summer. OHS is the only school from New York.

The 16 students who are attending the festival are contributing toward the cost of the 12-day trip in addition to raising funds. The money will pay for the production and help offset the cost of the experience.

“We’ve been working super-hard on fundraising and we’re getting closer and closer, but we are still not there yet,” Kate said. “I think I speak on behalf of all of us when I say that we can’t wait to represent our theater community halfway across the world.”

Jessica Beattie, OHS’ theater director, said the entire Ossining community “has shown a lot of love and support” for the project.

Before their trip, the OHS troupe members will be performing the 90-minute show for the Ossining community next month as they continue to practice for the August festival. The performances are at 7 p.m. on June 6 and 7 in the OHS auditorium.

“Working on this play has truly opened my eyes, making me even more passionate about theater,” said ninth-grader Ruby Rodgers.

The students are an active part of the creative process, Ms. Beattie said, collaborating with music teacher Susan Kafer to compose original music for the production. Senior Hunter-Storm Ridgeway composed the “Metamorphoses” theme music that threads all the stories together.

The cast and crew will spend a few days in London, where they will participate in some acting workshops and see a performance of Shakespeare’s “Taming of the Shrew” at the Globe Theatre. They will perform “Metamorphoses” four times in Edinburgh. The students will spend time promoting their performance on what’s known as the festival’s Royal Mile.

During their performances at the festival, the students will have only 15 minutes to set up and break down the stage. The actors and crew will focus heavily on physical storytelling through movement, props, and music since it would not be feasible to bring an extensive set with them. One of their major challenges is how to depict the shallow pool of water at center stage throughout the play, Ms. Beattie said.

“The water is an integral character in each scene and the symbol of transformation that threads all of the myths together,” Ms. Beattie said. “Therefore it’s an exciting technical challenge for us to take on the road.”

The students are excited and nervous, but they are confident about their skills. “We’re a strong crew of actors,” senior Miguel Angel Garcia said. “We’re very professional with our work and we take it very seriously,”

For more information about the trip, visit www.ossiningdrama.org. Donations, which can be made online, are tax deductible.