REPORT FROM EDINBURGH

AUGUST 5, 2013

I’ve got tired feet today – lots of walking!  When you pack for Scotland be sure to bring comfortable shoes (you will be walking – a lot!),  a jacket/sweatshirts etc (for the cool nights) and an umbrella (rainy days are common – today was misty for most of the day but it didn’t detract from the pleasures of the day!

First up after breakfast (you will not go hungry – the food at the Pollack Halls dining area is plentiful and good), a bus ride on the #30 – about 10 minutes – toward Edinburgh’s famous Royal Mile – so named because at the top of the road is the sprawling complex of the Edinburgh Castle, and at the bottom is Holyrood House – birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots – and current Scotland palace for Queen Elizabeth.  As I’m typing this I can hear (and see) the fireworks from the nightly performance of the Military Tatoo  at the Castle (I’ll report on the show tomorrow!

Edinburgh Castle, at the top of the Royal Mile -
this is also the site of the Tattoo

Holyrood House at the bottom of the Mile

After getting off the bus I wandered up the Royal Mile toward the castle, and past the center of activity for the Edinburgh Fringe (more on that later).  Today was a good day for me to take the castle tour, so I trudged on up the hill and took in a fascinating tour of the castle and its many buildings – dating from the 12^th to 19^th centuries (that’s more than three times the length of time the USA has existed as a country).  The castle tour is not on our itinerary for next year, but if you are a history buff (particularly all the intrigue about the British royalty) or a castle fan (like me) you’d probably have time to visit.  It’s well worth it – especially the panoramic views of the city that you can enjoy from the top!

Looking over the Ramparts

St. Margaret's Chapel - 12th Century

National War memorial atop the castle grounds

From the castle I wandered down the Royal Mile with a little side trip down Bank Street to the Greyfriars area – home to a statue of “Greyfriars Bobby” – a terrier of Scottish legend who, after his master’s death, stayed by his master’s grave without leaving it for 14 years, until his own death.  Right up the street from the statue is the Elephant House, made famous because JK Rowling wrote much of her early work on the Harry Potter series while sitting at the tavern.

Scotland's Best Dog

Birthplace of
Harry

After checking out those two landmarks (each an easy stroll away from the Royal Mile) I hiked back up to the Fringe area to check out the street performers and hopefully catch a couple of AHSTF groups in action.  The street performers are everywhere – you’ll find musicians, comedians, kids show performers and other performance artists  all up and down the street, with three special stages set up to highlight upcoming Fringe performances.  Not only will you have four full shows, but you’ll also be assigned one 20-minute slot to do a “teaser” on the Royal Mile!  The energy of the area is electric – and it wasn’t even nearly as busy today as it gets at other times of the week.

A light day on the Mile sofar

A street performeer (with audience members
as the horse)

Statuesque performers everywhere

"The Drama Boys" singing "Chim Chim Cheree"

Artists go to extremes to hand out flyers

A childrens' theatre troupe entertains

From South Africa, "Africa Entsha": astounded'
with a cappella harmonies

An American school previews its festival show-
note the cool signage they brought along

Rather than taking the bus back to the dorm  I decided to walk it to check out the ease of skipping the bus – it is a nice 20-minute or so walk (just make sure you map out the one or two turns you’ll need -  I didn’t and I overshot my turn – so my walk was more like 40 miinutes!

            After dinner it was on to a charter bus to go to the Church Hill Theatre – one of the main venues for AHSTF.  We caught two shows – one musical piece from a highly selective performing arts academy in Florida, and another by a more “typical” high school group in Texas.   Each group has a two hour window to set up, perform and strike.  In the photos, the platforms and such were provided by the festival.  The group that did projections brought their own “stuff”.  As you can see by the photos, this is a very traditional venue – it looked like about a 400 seat house (but keep in mind that the average over every Fringe show city-wide is 7 people per performance – the AHSTF audiences will probably not be that small, because schools are assigned to go see a few other shows – so we will probably at least have high school peers in the audience each time.  The AHSTF staff indicates that the neighborhood is good about attending shows at the theatre – and it is in an old church!

Interiior Church Hill Theatre -
Projection screen set

Sound and light table at rear

First show cleans up

Church Hill Lobby

A former church, turned theatre

The board out front

The next show is ready

            Tomorrow I’ll tell you more about the tech elements of festival as we will take our “tech tour”.  I’ll also report on the Tattoo – from all indications one of the most thrilling performances in the world.