I posted this some months ago. Here it is again, revised. Hope it's helpful. If you're considering taking a show next year, try to get there this coming August to check it out.
As a professional playwright based in NYC, I pay special attention when a young actor has an AHSTF credit on their resume. They've probably also seen a wide range of world-class theatre on small stages. Performing at a fringe festival anywhere gives an experience that encourages young theatre artists to make their own projects in the future and helps them understand the challenges of self-production.
Yes, it's very expensive, at 6K plus per student. So it's not possible for most schools. Yes, I could probably do take a production by myself for a little less money, but not much. Having produced on my own in Edinburgh, once in a terribly-run venue where we often played to three or four people, and having attended the Fringe as part of an AHSTF group, I can tell you that these people know what they are doing. I have several friends who have taken their students to the AHSTF. All of these teachers have taken shows again and again. If you can, go on the familiarization trip before you take a group. One warning: the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is addictive. Fireworks every night celebrating The Theatre? There's nothing else like it.
As a self-producing playwright with four Edinburgh Festival Fringe productions (including Last Train to Nibroc, I Dream Before I Take the Stand and As It Is In Heaven), I know first hand what it's like to bring a company to an Edinburgh venue. The AHSTF replicates that experience exactly, with a two-hour tech and fifteen-minute load-ins, overseen by a seasoned and supportive staff. The wide range of high school productions go from Shakespeare and the classics, to children's plays to modern comedies and dramas and devised original pieces. We premiered a play there, Kissed the Girls and Made Them Cry.
As a commissioned playwright I was privileged to join a high school group invited to the AHSTF in 2015. Their teacher had taken students twice before. Working through the fall and spring semester I was asked to create an "edgy" play about teens and sexual assault, Kissed the Girls and Made Them Cry, for students at a public high school in CT, and I met up with them in Edinburgh. Years earlier I had been impressed with AHSTF's work at the Fringe but was even more impressed as an insider with past festival experience as a self-producer. The dormitory housing was very comfortable (I was housed in a different building but visited the students for group meetings), the included breakfasts were great and I was blown away by how organized everything was. Security was very tight; the students had curfews and I was allowed in their dorm only when accompanied by their teacher. They were bused to and from the venue and since I was not part of the travel package I was not allowed on the bus, an inconvenience that I completely understood. In addition to a couple of days in London and Stratford, which cost extra, the groups received tickets to four other AHSTF shows, so each production had a built-in audience. Their teacher encouraged them to explore other Fringe shows on their own, in groups, and I treated them all to balcony seats at one of the major productions as a thank you. One thing that helped us was moving the production to a different space before heading to Edinburgh. A company in NYC gave us a day in their space to tech the show and do two performances in a 99-seat blackbox, in essence rehearsing a tech/load-in. (This also gave the students an Off-off-Broadway credit for their resumes. Representatives from Playscripts were in attendance; the young actors' names are now in the published script.)
If you can afford it, GO. From what I've seen, AHSTF is a very well-run organization and performing at the largest arts festival in the world is life changing for the students.
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Arlene Hutton
The Barrow Group
New York, NY
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Original Message:
Sent: 05-25-2018 15:27
From: L. Jay Edenmeyer
Subject: Question about the American High School Theatre Festival & The Edinburgh Festival Fringe
I have had the opportunity to go to the Fringe Festival twice, once as a performer with part of an individual group, and once with AHSTF.
These trips were 15 years apart. While the individual trip was a little less expensive, given inflation over the 15 years, not prohibitively so.
In addition, what you receive from the AHSTF trip more than justifies the expenditure. I would NEVER consider taking a group of high school students on an international trip that was not as heavily insured and secured as AHSTFs trips. The accommodations and excursions; the London stay; the theatre; the meals and tours covered. Simply going to perform, yes, you can do it more cheaply.
But, for everything that is included, the organizational skills and support, and the piece of mind those things give directors, parents, and administrators...there really is no comparison.
I appreciate the difficulty of the cost. I know that there are a great many opportunities for fundraising events. But, if you know you are going enough in advance, $10 per day for a year will cover much of what fundraising will not. For many - cut out Starbucks and you are good to go.
It isn't for everyone. We are returning in 2019. I look forward to working with this group again. If you have not experienced it, you don't understand the truly supportive nature of AHSTF and their dedication to theatre and theatre education.
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L. Jay Edenmeyer
Director/Teacher
LCISD
Richmond TX
Original Message:
Sent: 11-16-2017 13:42
From: Stephen Ingle
Subject: Question about the American High School Theatre Festival & The Edinburgh Festival Fringe
I received a call from the American High School Theatre Festival today inviting our program to perform at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2019. I am just curious if anyone out there is familiar with this and can give me some insight. I have never heard of this, but the person I spoke to said we were nominated by someone but she couldn't tell me who.
Any information would be helpful!
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Stephen Ingle
Drama Teacher
Jefferson High School
Jefferson, GA
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