Normally, the dress code for STA students consists of a polo and a plaid skirt, but during the Cavalcade Parade in Edinburgh, Scotland’s Fringe Festival, the STA uniform consisted of flyers and fake mustaches. STA students clad in cast t-shirts and costumed in ‘Greater Tuna’Â facial hair passed out flyers, promoted their upcoming performances and offered verbal advertisements such as, ‘Come see girls in mustaches!’Â The girls walked for two miles publicizing the show and kicking off what cast member Rosemary McGraw described as the trip of a lifetime.
STA came to Scotland through the American High School Theatre Festival (AHSTF), who prepared all the travel arrangements for STA. The AHSTF participants all stayed in the Pollack Halls dorm at the University of Edinburgh and were each required to see four other AHSTF performances throughout the festival.
‘The average audience is about seven people,’Â Prentiss said. ‘We would have had two or three [audience members] some days without that rule.”
During their two-week trip, the cast members were exposed to plays as well as other forms of art and culture. The group also got to walk the Royal Mile, one of the oldest roads in Edinburgh. This road stretches a mile long and connects Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace.
‘During the festival, [the Royal Mile] is just packed with street performers,’Â Prentiss said. ‘You just never know what you’re going to see.’Â
According to McGraw, the street performers are diverse in talent – when walking the Royal Mile, one could come across anything from people doing headstands on ladders to people eating fire.
‘Every time it’s something different; you never know [what to expect],’Â Prentiss said. ‘It’s utter chaos, but it’s so unbelievable.’Â
For McGraw, seeing shows was just as much fun as performing them. However, McGraw felt that “Greater Tuna” received a better reaction in Edinburgh than it did when performed at STA.
‘Over there, they laughed at every single thing,’Â McGraw said. ‘I’m going to be honest, that’s the best thing when you know that everyone’s enjoying the show.’Â
Although McGraw said that hearing the laughter of the audience was her favorite memory from the Scotland trip, cast member Elizabeth Schorgl felt that one of the best parts of the trip was watching other AHSTF performers and in return getting to share “Greater Tuna” with them.
After sharing four performances and spending two weeks together as a cast, it was time to trade in “Greater Tuna” mustaches for STA’s tartan plaid. The cast returned to Kansas City Aug. 16 at 11:10 p.m., one day before orientation. After McGraw’s “trip of a lifetime” came to an end, the cast retired their mustaches and exchanged the plaid kilts of Scotland for the skirts and accompanying polos of STA.
