Hi there blog! This is Tessa. I’m writing to you live from Edinburgh about some of our performances thus far and all the wonderful things we’ve gotten to do. Edinburgh has been crazy amazing so far, and definitely unlike any other theatre experience we have ever been a part of. One of the first things we did as we arrived in Edinburgh was tech our show! Anyone who knows how tech works knows that it is usually a multiple day process, each with long rehearsals and pauses to work things out. We were allotted 3 hours in total (in TOTAL) to tech our entire show in our theatre, the Pleasance Beside. This was incredibly fast paced and even stressful at times, but ended up going as well as it could have. We owe it all to our crew legends and special kudos to Miss Stage Manager Jacqueline. After those 3 hours, the next time we saw the venue was to perform for an audience! Spooky. But all has been going so smoothly and it is starting to feel so routine to all of us.
I have never been a part of a show that has run for so many performances, so in a cool way this feels like the closest experience I have ever had to working in professional theatre. It is really awesome that so many accomplished actors and comedians bring their own special acts to the Fringe and are not afraid to go out of the box! Every day has been so exhausting (like constant Disneyland-type energy exertion) but it’s fine because everyone at the Fringe is doing it together. It’s this really cool shared energy and atmosphere that is super contagious. My favorite show we have seen so far was an original musical called “A History of Paper.” I won’t spoil anything because I have full faith that this musical will be big one day in the U.S., but our whole group left the theatre sobbing full out together. It was fantastic and so so special. I bought a script of it afterwards (as many of us did) if anyone reading this would like to borrow ;).
We’re lucky that for these last two weeks, we did not have many extra rehearsals and have officially finished our classes. This means that we have a lot more time to explore! We are housed in a great area where there is a lot to do, both theatre and otherwise. Some of my favorite activities thus far have been (but are not limited to): laser tag, mini golf, vintage shopping, museum exploring, and of course, seeing shows. A large group of us took a trip up to Arthur’s Seat when we first got here; it was a steep hike up to this amazing lookout over the whole city. It was an amazing view and we conquered the steep hill together, which was quite unifying. I also tied for first place in mini golf, which was an equally awesome accomplishment. The entire place was dinosaur themed and glow in the dark; I already want to go again. I finally got to see the new Deadpool movie with some buds, which was hilarious. Highly recommend!
One of my favorite things I have noticed about Scotland and Edinburgh in specific is the very open mindedness of the people here. People are very friendly and receptive, and not so quick to pass judgment. When we all learned that the topic of our play centered around climate change, we were a little scared. In the U.S., it’s a scary topic to bring up because people disagree on it so much. But here, it seems most everyone has been willing to have open dialogue and were willing to receive what the show has to offer, despite what they may personally believe. Those who have come to see the show have expressed how inspiring it is, not just on the front of environmental action, but friendship, loss, and hope. We are so lucky that Lewis wrote a play which is able to touch our audiences in more ways than one.
My favorite anecdote thus far in the trip happened at the Military Tattoo, which was absolutely fantastic and took place right in front of Edinburgh Castle. There were many different countries that performed with their own groups and cultural influence, and America was one of them. When they came out, we were all hoping to hear some of the songs performed which really define American culture. We were met with “Take Me Home, Country Roads”, “Danger Zone” and my personal favorite “Astronaut in the Ocean”. It was so embarrassing that it was almost funny; that is really how they see us over here. Nothing better represents America than “Astronaut in the Ocean”. If you know that song you know… it’s pretty funny. When that beat dropped our entire group just cracked up, it was actually unbelievable. Needless to say, we have all been singing it nonstop since, so we’re not helping the stereotype.
We are leaving in just a couple days and I feel like I already miss this place when I haven’t even left yet, which I feel is where a lot of us are at. For now, the goal is to really be present and try to squeeze in all these last minute experiences and memories while we can. There is so much to see and do, and it’s hard not to feel like you’re falling behind when you can’t get it all done. But I’ve learned that just being here is the biggest blessing; even just sitting here writing this blog in my room with my favorite iced vanilla latte (with oat milk of course) in hand. Not to be too sappy! I am excited to perform our last couple shows and end with a bang, and I know it is going to be fantastic! 🙂
Comments are closed