Yoh Players find plenty of inspiration on Scotland trip

Nineteen Yoh Theatre Players of WUHSMS returned on Aug. 10, 2018, from a two-week performance trip to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, in Edinburgh, Scotland. This is an excerpt from an account written by one of the players that appeared in the “The Vermont Standard” on August 30, 2018.

By Anna Hepler

Where else in time and space could you possibly go see a choose-your-own-adventure Shakespeare show, a Peter Pan prequel, a one-man production about the true story of a man who almost killed Hitler, an improv comedy musical with new titles each night including "How the Grinch Stole My Virginity," a Harry Potter parody musical about the teenage years of Tom Riddle, a pop musical about the six wives of Henry VIII, a plane crash simulation experienced in a shipping container with references to splitting timelines and Schrodinger's cat, a concert by a gospel choir from South Africa, and a Greek tragedy about a mother tearing off her own son's head for the madness of Dionysus, all in one city?

The days blurred together into a beautiful tangle of eating, sleeping, and theatre, both observed and performed, and my perception of what is possible in theatre expanded immensely.

Interaction with strangers was a key part of our experience at the Fringe. In order to promote our show, we were given time to perform on a stage on the Royal Mile, the heart of the Fringe in Edinburgh. Much of the mile was closed off to traffic for the Fringe, and crowds thronged thick along the entire road, leaving space only for the street performers who would juggle fire or swords, or balance bicycles on their noses, or other wild acts.

We spent about fifteen minutes performing snippets from our show on a tiny stage in the middle of the exhilarating chaos for whoever wanted to stop and listen, then we moved out into the crowd. We were aiming to promote ourselves and our show. Each player received a stack of flyers with our showtimes, and we processed up the mile following Emily Surrell and the singing bowl.

We moved slowly to catch people's attention in the midst of the chaos, and we sang, holding out our flyers as we moved. And people watched us, many took our flyers. All of this was in our costumes of flowing green silks, maroon bodysuits, with our homemade wire crowns. The boys, several clothed in dresses, walked alongside and handed out flyers as well. Sometimes we followed in a single-file line behind Ted Krawczyk, our Dionysus, imitating his every movement with flyers in each hand.

It was amazing what a costume, a team, and the environment of the mile did for my ability to interact with people. Suddenly, handing out pieces of paper about our show to complete strangers didn't seem so difficult or bizarre, it was just the way of the Fringe, and here were seventeen of my schoolmates doing so with me.

Performing felt equally natural. We had several rehearsals at Pollock Halls where we were staying, and then a two-hour tech rehearsal in our space. At no point between arriving in Scotland and giving our first performance did we complete a full run-through of the show, but standing in the less-than-two-foot-wide backstage space before our first show felt right.

In the words of Matt, our tech guy (and again I'm paraphrasing), "I hope you feel some nerves, because that means you care. But just go out there and have a great show. You guys got this."

I was delighted to be a part of such a high-quality show, especially since we received such professional treatment throughout the course of our performing experience. Before each show, we would get into our space fifteen minutes before start time, and spend about thirteen of those minutes setting up our (thankfully minimal) set and doing a few quick breathing and visualization exercises with Lilli before heading backstage about two minutes before showtime.

Matt the tech guy would then let in the audience, let them get seated, then close the entry curtain and initiate the blackout. After the show, we had around twenty minutes to pack everything up, sweep the floor, and get out to meet our bus. Everyone had jobs, and we were trusted with those jobs entirely. We were completely responsible for setting up and tearing down our set for each show, and we were kept aware of everything that was going on in the theatre.

I loved the feeling of being trusted at such a high level, and of being part of a group that was capable of accomplishing the mandated level of accomplished in such a short amount of time.

This trip to Scotland was, at its heart, about theatre. And in experiencing so much theatre, from the seats and the stage, I found more about what theatre is for me. Theatre is a way of expressing a story, history or fiction. It is a way of saying what one needs to say in as conventional or as weird a way as necessary.

It is a way of creating connection by shared experience and knowledge, and it is a gift to those who see each performance, whether it be seven people or seven thousand. Therefore, the community of theatre, at least at the Fringe, is a community born out of generosity, born out of giving a gift to audiences night after night.

I am so glad to have been part of that community of generosity and artistic power this summer, and I look forward to carrying that inspiration onward to create and give more theatre to the world.