On Thursday and Friday, Sept. 4 and 5, the Conard High School Drama Department will present encore performances of the original play they performed at the Fringe this summer.

Courtesy image

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Recently, 20 students from Conard High School traveled abroad to the United Kingdom where they visited London and then went on to Edinburgh, Scotland, where they premiered their original production, “Murder at Camp Harmony,” written by Conard student Josh Peak (Class of ‘25).

Their play was a fan favorite, earning high praise and lots of laughs from audience members who gave the show “two thumbs up” and remarked that it was a “fabulous original script” that was “very well done.” 

Students performed their show four times over the course of 12 days in Edinburgh. Many of them remarked that they were proud of the growth they experienced and how well they were able to transition to performing in a new space.

The Edinburgh Fringe is the largest performing arts festival in the world, featuring more than 3,000 performances – from plays, to comedy acts, music performances, and more – and happens annually the first few weeks of August. Every crevice of the city is turned into performance spaces of all shapes and sizes, including attics, churches, college buildings, and even the streets are alive with solo performances along the Royal Mile.

Conard Drama performed in the Nicholson Square theatre, which was a 90-seat thrust space set up inside a transformed church building. The venue was centrally located within the city and students were able to advertise by “busking” the show, an integral part of the experience where actors hand out flyers to people on the street. While families of some students were able to travel abroad and watch a performance, the seats were filled as Conard Drama sold out their performances from eager audience members! 

When not performing, students spent free time seeing shows, including those performed by other high school students attending from around the U.S. as part of the American High School Theatre Festival as well as any number of Fringe shows performed by artists from around the world. In addition to watching shows, students hiked up Sir Arthur’s seat together, experienced an underground ghost tour, visited Stirling Castle and the Kelpies, toured around London, and even got to see Elton John’s new West End musical “The Devil Wears Prada.” Many students remarked that it’s hard to put the experience into words, but they had “so much fun” and enjoyed getting to meet new people and getting to know their peers even better.

Group photo outside of Stirling Castle. Courtesy photo

As one student reflected, “This is probably the most fun trip I’ve ever been on, it was definitely worth everything that we put into it. I developed so many new relationships with people and got to explore new parts of the world which was something I never dreamed of doing in high school.”

This truly was a life-changing experience for the students and a trip that they will never forget. In celebration of their great work, the Conard Theatre department has decided to mount two encore performances, which are free and open to the public this Thursday, Sept. 4 and Friday, Sept. 5 at 7:30 p.m.

“Murder at Camp Harmony” is a 55-minute whodunnit set at a summer theater camp. It’s recommended for those 12 and older, simply due to some mature language, but is fun and enjoyable for audiences of all ages. Click HERE to find out about the cast and crew. You can easily reserve a seat on Conard Drama’s ticketing site HERE.

Conard Drama looks forward to kicking off their 25-26 season with this fun play! Stay up to date by following @conardblackbox on Instagram.

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