Our school embodies many things. Glamour is arguably not one of them. The WS Theater department, however, attempted to remedy this by taking a trip to Scotland over the summer to perform at the renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
“A hundred or so schools a year are nominated, and about 40 are selected based upon the strength of their theatre program—and we made the cut,” said Bernie DeLeo, the WS drama director. Despite this honor, the trip posed both a financial and creative challenge.
“The cost for each student to attend was $6,500 for two weeks of travel, meals, lodging, theatre tickets, etc.,” said DeLeo. A combination of fundraising activities, including a yard sale and several theatrical performances, brought this down to $5,200. While considerably less money, only a limited number of students could afford the trip—four of each gender.
This led to a new problem: it was difficult to find a play that was only an hour long, yet had a large part for each person. Also, since taking an entire set to Scotland was impossible, the production couldn’t require much scenery.
“It turned out to be easier to write a new play—as I knew my actors and what they could do, so I could write to their voices—than finding an existing one that fit the Fringe’s constraints,” DeLeo said. He created “Cosplay’s the Thing,” a play about a group of students who express themselves by dressing as fictional characters.
“The reason it was chosen was because it’s very representative of theater people, without doing it about theater people,” said senior Kira Wiggins. She did not go on the trip, but she is a longtime member of the drama community and found DeLeo’s play highly relevant to the theater experience.
“Some people just see us as putting on performances, but it’s really about how it helps us become more true to ourselves, and it helps us become more empathetic towards people,” said Wiggins.
In the same vein, the students on the trip didn’t only perform, but got to taste British culture. They flew into London, where they spent two days sightseeing, and then took a bus to Scotland, where they also tried to sample the attractions.
“We were able to split up in groups if we wanted to and do things around the town, like go up to the crags of King Arthur’s seat and tour, and go and see shows that we wanted to see that weren’t a part of the itinerary,” said junior Brendan Blackwell.
They also went “busking,” or wandered the streets of Edinburgh in an effort to get the word out about their play.
“For the most part, we were in our costumes, talking to people, seeing what their interests were, seeing if they were interested in coming to see our show, handing out flyers, being high energy—you know, having a good time,” said Blackwell.
This interaction reminded members of the drama department of the universality of their interests.
“I think it was a unique experience because they got to feel connected to their art form and connected to people,” said Wiggins.
That feeling of connection and welcome was not only the theme of their production, but is one intrinsic to the theater community.
“This is supposed to be a welcoming community that anyone can share. However they’re feeling, there’s always people that you can come to that will accept you for who you are, regardless,” said Blackwell.