The Fellowship of Ravens gathers for a group shot Oct. 23, 2013. Pictured are (back) Eric Lapp, Taylor LaCaze, Tommy Griffith, (middle) Alec Skwara, Kennedy Bruker, Mary Troy, Jake McGlew, Jasmine Wilker, Caroline Maurer, Jimmy Kenna, (front) Julianna Niezgoda, Noelle Jaromsky, Lexi Amato, Michael Kowalski, Sydney Rubin and Marissa Giblin. Not pictured is Kaleigh Sturgeon.
By Jessica Oates
Teens to perform play about mental health issues at Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August
Next August, a company of township high school students will journey to Edinburgh, Scotland to perform an original play about teenage mental health issues at the world’s largest theater festival.
But in order to be in line for the honor, the students had to figure out a creative way to work around a bit of red tape.
In May, the Robbinsville High School Drama Club was officially invited to put on a full-scale production at Edinburgh Fringe Festival. While school administration and board members were very supportive, it’s district policy not to sponsor trips overseas.
“This is such a great honor for these kids who have been working so hard for years, so we couldn’t pass up the opportunity,” teacher and advisor Alison Sussman said. “We joined the program without sponsorship as a non-profit, tax-exempt organization, and became the Fellowship of the Ravens. All of the participants are Robbinsville High School students, but it is not a school organization.”
The Fellowship of the Ravens Inc., is a nonprofit theater troupe based in Robbinsville made up of Robbinsville High School students. It sets out to educate students in theater production and performance. The young artists participate in a variety of workshops and local performances throughout the year, sharing the benefits of theater with the community.
The journey abroad started when the Robbinsville High School Drama Club received an invitation to participate in the 2014 American High School Theater Festival. Top high school programs are nominated by state, regional and national theater organizations, as well as by university theater professors, to participate in the prestigious AHSTF annually. A local professor nominated the club, and its members—under Sussman’s leadership—organized their application, including letters of recommendation, photos and samples from past shows. Sussman has taught English and theater classes at the high school since it opened in 2004, and helped found the school’s drama club.
Sussman will accompany students to Edinburgh as their director along with co-director Brent Rivers, who teaches English at Robbinsville High School.
The production the students will perform in Scotland is being written by Katrina P. Day, a Robbinsville High School alumna and NYU Tisch School of the Arts graduate. The play, entitled “Where to Begin,” depicts teenagers’ experiences with issues of mental health. Sussman said the play is a call to action, bringing young peoples’ stories to light and treating them with respect. It encourages teens to talk honestly about what they’re going through.
Day currently is an apprentice of The Barrow Group, an award winning non-profit off-Broadway theater company, and her work has been performed in New York City theaters.
Another former Raven, Laura Williams, is in charge of design for the performance. Williams is set to graduate in May from Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University with a bachelor’s degree in theater design. Over the past few years, Williams has worked at The Public Theater, The Princeton Festival and Bucks County Playhouse.
Not only is the festival an opportunity for the Ravens to showcase their own talent, it is a chance to see performers of all ages, backgrounds and experience levels debut their work. Each August, all of Edinburgh becomes a stage, and visitors can watch performances everywhere—from playgrounds to conference rooms, and from parks to churches. The Fringe Festival includes more than 3,000 performances of music, theater, dance and comedy over the course of three weeks.
Robbinsville High School junior Jacob McGlew first took an interest in acting in middle school when he saw how much his older brother enjoyed it in college. Now, McGrew is the president of the Raven Players Drama Club at the high school.
“I love acting because it’s a chance to put all of your cares and worries aside,” McGlew said. “I think I’m good at it, and it’s fun to adapt the personality of the character I’m portraying. The drama club is a tight knit group and I’m glad to be a part of it. It’s a huge honor for the Fellowship of the Ravens to travel to Edinburg. Some well-known works debuted for the first time in Edinburgh, and I’m excited to see all of the other talent.”
Fellowship member Sydney Rubin, also a Robbinsville High School junior, said she plans to study theater in college and pursue acting as a career.
“I first got involved with acting as a sophomore,” she said. “The school’s fall drama was my first taste of theater, and I fell in love with it,” she said. “It is a very nurturing environment.”
Rubin also expressed her excitement to travel to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
“Not only is it the largest festival in the world and a great opportunity to get our work out there, we will get to see other student performers just like ourselves,” Rubin said. “We will all be there to support each other.”
Robbinsville High School junior Michael Kowalski said that aside form the honor of being chosen to travel to the world’s largest film festival, he looks forward to seeing Scotland and how the performing arts in another country compare to what he is familiar with at home.
Kowalski said that his passion for performing music led him into acting. Which, in turn, has led him to Scotland.
“I played the guitar for a while and I thought that acting would be something I might like, so I gave it a try and I’m glad I did,” he said.
The Fellowship of the Ravens is hosting a number of fundraising events to pay for the cost of traveling to the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scottland. To view upcoming fundraising events, visit the group’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/FellowshipOfTheRavens. For sponsorship opportunities, contact director Alison Sussman at fellowshipoftheravens@gmail.com or (609) 510-8431.
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