Return to Edinburgh

Published: 01 Jun 2012   updated: 24 Jul 2012

In August 2010 Redland High School's 'Working Girls' made their triumphant début at the Edinburgh Fringe with their version of Euripides'The Trojan Women.  Taking a classic tragedy to the world's foremost comedy festival may seem a bit of a risky choice - but the easy way out has never been the Redland High way, and we stand by our decision - especially as it proved so successful!

The production was hailed as 'beautiful', 'well-crafted' and 'creative and inventive' and the girls themselves as 'a young and talented ensemble' who 'well surpass others of much greater age' by a range of Fringe publications.   The girls themselves declared often how much fun they had in spite - or perhaps because of - the significant demand to be on-stage for approximately 90 minutes every day and preparing for it for much longer than that!

So we have decided to go back.  Such was our enjoyment that we couldn't wait to make another visit.  This August we are taking our version of Romeo and Juliet first presented in School in December 2010, featuring a stiletto-wearing Nurse, a Stanley-knife wielding female Tybalt and a pig-tailed Benvolio - who, having also undergone a gender change in our version, trails after Romeo like a lost puppy (but be careful: with this puppy her bite is definitely worse than her bark).

Many of our old cast are in place: Amy Kennedy (Year 12) will be reprising Romeo (having briefly slipped into the personae of nasty Nazi admiral for The Sound of Music and suffering adulterous husband as John Proctor in The Crucible), Tybalt (Rebecca Glover: Year 13) has not had an identity change and nor has the long suffering Benvolio (Rebecca Gardner: Year 12). But we have a new Juliet (Amy Adair: Year 11).  Both of the lovers have acquired two new parents and Friar Lawrence has a new identity - she's still Sister Lawrence and still pushing her science trolley full of strange potions and plants but she's become rather more of a hippy than she used to be...

This version features original music and dance written, choreographed and performed by students and ex-students of RHS. In addition to the 28 students and 4 members of Staff who have given up their summer to this project, recent old girls have been around to lend a hand. Although officially they left school a year ago, Emma Walker has returned as co-director, Siobhan Diffin is assisting with choreography and Ellie Kitcatt has produced the publicity materials

We will be playing from 2-11 August (not including Sunday 5) at 12:25pm in theSpace@NiddrySt. For further information, see www.facebook.com/RomeoAndJulietEdinburghFringe2012.

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