Great Success for the ACS Theatre Program
ACS and our Theatre Program won the honor of representing the United States in 2013 Edinburgh Fringe Festival as part of American High School Theatre Festival (AHSTF).
ACS made an application in January 2012. The AHSTF Board of Advisors, made up of college theatre professors, made the final selection, and on Friday, May 4, we were informed that the ACS Theatre Program is the winner among all nominated school theatre programs in USA. Our students will have the unique opportunity to give four performances of their adaptation of the musical Spring Awakening on the own stage AHSTF at the festival of Edinburgh.
Congratulations to our Theatre Program members and advisors for the great success!
Photo by Boris Urumov, ACS Photography Club
Below you can find a short presentation of AHSTF and the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh. Source – AHSTF website:
What Is AHSTF?
In 1994, the American High School Theatre Festival was developed with the help of high school and college drama professionals. Our festival is designed to complement high school drama programs and allow our nation's drama students to showcase their skills within an international forum.
The American High School Theatre Festival runs in conjunction with the world-renowned Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the world's largest performing arts festival - held each August in Edinburgh, Scotland. Top high school theatre programs are nominated by state, regional, and national theatre organizations, as well as university theatre professors, to participate in AHSTF.
Each nominated school receives an application, and all completed applications are reviewed by the AHSTF Board of Advisors, made up of college theatre professors. Top high school programs are identified based on their most recent bodies of work, awards, community involvement, philosophies, and recommendations. To promote diverse participation, AHSTF does not allow schools to participate in consecutive years. Schools selected will have more than a full year to plan for their once-in-a-lifetime performance on AHSTF's world stage.
The Fringe Festival
"The Fringe is the most prestigious arts festival in the world!"
The Edinburgh Fringe Festival is a uniquely exciting event. Every year for 3 weeks, Scotland's majestic capital is transformed into a magical, unpredictable, thrilling world. The city bursts at the seams, as Edinburgh Scotland becomes the largest stage in the world and every theatre, church hall, sports Centre, and pub plays host to it's own array of international performers. AHSTF is proud to create the platform upon which American schools can add to this excitement.
In 1947, the Edinburgh International Festival was formed as a platform to promote peace and unity in the world after the war. It attracted so much attention and enthusiasm that its overspill formed the first Fringe. Just as today, there were no invitations to the first Fringe. The Fringe has grown due to the unrivaled enthusiasm of its participants and the boundless energy of its performers and audiences.
With over a thousand performing companies, from all over the world, the Fringe is the largest arts festival in the world. Hand in hand with the International Festival, the Book Festival, the Film Festival, and the Jazz Festival, Edinburgh attracts over a half million tourists with its unrivaled range of music, theatre, comedy, and visual arts.