Students to play Scottish festival

Cross Creek High School's drama department is eagerly awaiting the arrival of August, when its students will travel to Edinburgh, Scotland, to perform in the American High School Theatre Festival at the Fringe Festival.

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Michael Holahan/Staff

Students in Cross Creek High School's drama department rehearse for Next Victim Please, a British comedy being staged at the school this week.

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Michael Holahan/Staff

Lindsey Wilkinson and Alejandro Benvenuti rehearse for this week's play.

"We're like the Cinderella drama team. To achieve an honor of this magnitude, having only been a school for nine years, that says a lot about our program," said Leah Soderberg, a drama teacher and the director of the department.

The Fringe Festival, which began in 1947, is the world's largest arts event. In 2007, the three-week festival featured 31,000 performances.

Only two other area schools -- Harlem High School in 2004 and John S. Davidson Fine Arts School in 2005 -- have performed in the festival.

The Cross Creek drama department also has been selected to premiere Flight of the Lawn Chair Man, a play that has never been performed in Europe before.

"I'm really excited that they chose us, a high school drama department, to premiere this play in Europe. It's going to be an incredible experience," Mrs. Soderberg said.

The "Cinderella drama team" needs some help finding the glass slipper -- money for the trip.

To fully pay for the two-week trip, the department will have to raise $100,0000 for travel, housing, costumes, props, scenery and programs, Mrs. Soderberg said.

So far, six students and six chaperones are committed to going. There are six more students who would like to go but are financially unable to, Mrs. Soderberg said.

Because the trip is not a part of the required curriculum, the Richmond County Board of Education can't finance it.

"I was warned that the money would be the hardest thing to come up with, but these students -- they have worked really hard and deserve to display their talents in an international arts setting like the Fringe Festival," she said.

The drama department hopes to offset some of the cost through its production of Next Victim Please tonight through Saturday at the high school.

"It's a comedy take on the traditional English murder mysteries," Mrs. Soderberg said. "In about an hour, someone gets shot, stabbed and electrocuted. During the intermission, we are going to let the audience cast their vote on who they think is committing the murders."

The setting will draw people into the play, she said.

"We will transform the hallway to resemble a lobby of an actual theater," she said. "When people come into the theater, it's not really huge, so they'll feel as if they are right there as part of the play. That's going to make it really fun."

Reach Nikasha Dicks at (706) 823-3336 or nikasha.dicks@augustachronicle.com.