Paly theater students attending the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland this summer will perform Young Americans, the show that they prepared over the course of the school year, at 8 p.m. on May 22, 23 and 29 in the Haymarket Theater.
According to Paly theater director Kathleen Woods, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, commonly known as the Fringe Festival, is the world’s largest performing arts festival, with a tremendous variety in the style of performances.
After entering a competitive application process last year, Woods found out last April that Paly was one of 50 to 60 high schools from across the country chosen to represent the United States at the festival.
At the beginning of the school year, students attending the festival began to put their own show together. The students divided into groups that focused on different areas of the performance, according to senior Tess Bellomo. A group of 10 students began writing the script in the fall. Professional playwright Prince Gomolvilas helped the group develop ideas and translate them into a script. For some students, this was the second time that they were able to work with Gomolvilas, as he was the mentor for the Theater 3/4 playwrighting project last year.
“We could not have made the really great play that we did without Prince [Gomolvilas],” senior Tom Marks said. “He helped us organize our ideas to make it clear what we wanted to write.”
Young Americans traces the relevance of rock and roll to youth from the 1950s to the present day, according to director Kathleen Woods. In the 90 minute show, there are seven musical numbers that showcase different music styles.
“It [writing the show] seemed like the right fit for Paly since we have such a strong program,” Woods said. “The Fringe is really known for innovation. It’s known for being wild and crazy and is a good place to try out new material.”
Marks, who attended the Fringe Festival in 2007 with his family, is looking forward to seeing his work performed at the festival.
“In Paly theater we have a lot of freedom to write with Play in a Day and One Acts, but this has a different feel to it,” Marks said. “It is different because it is not just for friends and family, but it’s going to be like international. It feels professional.”
Tickets can be bought at the door; student and senior tickets cost $7 and adult tickets cost $10.