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McCluer Theatre Dept. Selected to Represent United States at Festival
McCluer High School has been chosen to have its theatre program represent the United States at the American High School Theatre Festival, which takes place every summer in Edinburgh, Scotland. McCluer plans to participate in the 22nd annual festival in 2016, provided students and staff are able to raise the needed funds.
The one-of-a-kind opportunity allows high school students to perform in the world’s largest arts festival, the three-week Edinburgh Festival Fringe held in the capital of Scotland. The American High School Theatre Festival runs in conjunction with the world-renowned Edinburgh Festival Fringe that began in 1947. With nearly 3,000 productions, 40,000 performances and thousands of performers from across the globe, the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the largest performance arts festival in the world.
McCluer was selected as one of 40 American high schools to represent the United States at the 2016 festival. Each year, 200 schools nationally are nominated and just 40 are selected. Nominations are made by cooperating universities or by directors who have attended the festival in previous years. An international panel of collegiate theatre professors then assesses the quality of each school’s theatre program through applications and video submissions.
“This is a tremendous achievement for all of the hard-working students in our Drama Club,” said Doug Erwin, Director of Speech and Theatre at McCluer High School. “We are deeply honored to be one of the few predominantly African-American high school theatre programs in the United States to be selected to represent our country at the prestigious American High School Theatre Festival at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. We hope to be able to raise the funds necessary to participate in the 2016 event.”
Participants in the McCluer High School theatre program learn valuable life skills and many have earned college scholarships. Alumni of the theatre program have become professional actors and technicians throughout the country and have appeared on Broadway and in feature films. McCluer High School also sponsors Thespian Troupe 787, a dramatic honor society.
“We congratulate Mr. Erwin, Director of Technical Theatre Ms. Erica Pegues and the many talented students who work tirelessly after school to hone their theatrical abilities with this remarkable achievement,” said Lawrence Larrew, acting superintendent of the Ferguson-Florissant School District.
The McCluer High School Theatre Department currently is looking at several fund-raising options for the participation of its Drama Club, which has more than 70 members, at the 2016 festival. The annual International High School Festival is three weeks long, with costs estimated at $6,000 per student, or approximately $420,000 for McCluer High School’s Theatre Department. (story provided by Ferguson-Florissant School District)
