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Adventures in Edinburgh: A Story of Transformation

Last summer, nearly 400 years after Cinderella first charmed audiences, Isabella Kolenberg ’25 stepped into the heroine’s glass slippers and joined 11 fellow King School thespians to stage a musical version of the fairy tale at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. Like Cinderella’s night at the ball, the two-week trip was a transformative experience for the students.

After each show, children wishing to meet the fairy tale characters surrounded the cast members.

“Every day we performed, the audience was filled with little kids dressed up as Cinderella,” Isabella said. “To see that we had inspired these kids and that we were such a positive influence was amazing. This is exactly why I love theater.”

This is the Performing Arts program’s third appearance in the festival, and the trip fulfills a dual purpose: to deepen students’ practice as theater artists by performing in a new venue in front of an unfamiliar audience and to broaden their understanding of themselves as citizens of an international creative community. Every production of “Cinderella” was sold out, and the close interaction students had with the audience deepened the entire experience.

“Language itself is a gateway into the culture,” performing arts teacher Mark Silence said. “Just hearing the accents will enhance future productions.” He added, “The festival is a challenging but rewarding experience for students. It is a chance for them to learn and grow as artists and individuals.”

Students are responsible for more than the performance at the festival. They must promote and sustain their show while navigating a different culture. They network with other students from around the world and watch them perform, adding another dimension to the adventure.

“Being able to immerse myself in these new forms of performance was extremely eye-opening,” Hathaway Liparidis ’26 said. “We were able to relate to other high school actors who were as passionate about the performing arts as we were. Watching their performances helped us to understand and compare our own acting choices and performances.”

“We came across different people with different backgrounds It changed my perspective . ”

—Bruno Reinhoefer Ribeiro ’26

Though theater is the soul of what draws the students to Edinburgh, they take advantage of the city and its proximity to London.

“The students are constantly learning and experiencing so much,” Silence said. “There’s the art, music, culture, and the environment. Just being in Europe would be worthy of a trip, but when you add all of the theater events and cultural discoveries, you can’t avoid having a unique and enriching time.”

The trip fosters responsibility and independence as well.

“Being in a new country opened my mind to how much diversity is spread around the world,” Bruno Reinhoefer Ribeiro ’26 said. “Especially in the festival but also in London, we came across different people with different backgrounds. It changed my perspective.”

The festival also offered intensive workshops. Students honed their comic timing with an improvisational music group called Baby Wants Candy and practiced taking theatrical risks with actors from the Tectonic Theatre Project. In London, they studied with professional actors at the iconic theater Shakespeare’s Globe and toured the National Theatre.

“At the Globe, we worked with a professional actor and explored the differences of class and how to add to a character based on their rank,” Hathaway said. “Then we watched professionals perform ‘The Crucible’ on the West End, which solidified the lessons we learned in the workshops.”

Silence also benefited from watching the other teachers.

“Having new voices and ideas widens the students’ scope of understanding and experience,” Silence said. “It also helps me to devise new approaches when I see how they respond to a variety of teaching styles.”

Beyond the formal classes, the spaces themselves, including the structure of Edinburgh, left an impression.

“We saw things that don’t really exist in the U.S.,” Bruno said, noting the Scottish capital’s division between the medieval fortresses of the Old Town and the neoclassical designs of the New Town. “It was interesting to see a modern city that has maintained so much of its history.”

Hathaway noted the Scottish traditions, including the food.

“Scotland is known for its haggis and black pudding, which a lot of us were brave enough to try,” she said. “It was really interesting to see how the city is built on tradition and community. All around Edinburgh, you can find kilts and bagpipes, and some of the King students bought them and took Celtic dancing class.”

With each trip, Silence finds new ways to enhance the learning experience. He looks forward to the next trip with an eye on further building confidence, cultivating talent, and broadening perspectives.

“The students started the trip feeling like tourists, but they gradually realized that they were artists themselves,” Silence said. “They faced the same challenges, won over the same audiences, and got the same ovations as all of the other performers with whom they collaborated.”

For the cast, the Fringe Festival was Cinderella’s ball, and they were changed by the journey.

“Seeing all of the talent on display and experiencing it in a different country was incredible,” Isabella said, adding that playing to an audience of little Cinderellas was like her own fairy tale. “These moments really did feel magical.”

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