First Days in Edinburgh: Busking, Disco Dancing, and Final Rehearsals

Many beautiful sights, lush pastures, and homely villages away from London, Edinburgh awaited us. Immersing ourselves in the vibrant scenes of one of Scotland’s busiest cities, we have encountered so many inspiring and exciting experiences over the past two days — featuring workshops, activities, group bonding, and our first busking opportunity!

Wednesday morning began with a musical improvisation workshop led by cast members of the musical Baby Wants Candy, where we created completely improvised musical numbers driven by audience suggestions. Harker has had a close relationship with Baby Wants Candy for several years; in fact, we met while busking on our 2011 Fringe trip for Pippin and kept in touch, organizing workshop opportunities for subsequent casts over the years. In this particular workshop, cast members took turns learning and creating various chorus structures and verses, combining trust and collaboration with enthusiasm and boldness. Finally, we had a Q&A with Baby Wants Candy, where we learned about their rehearsal process, improvisation tips, and more.

The skills we honed paid off well during our rehearsals before our opening show, as well as during our first busking experience. On Wednesday after the workshop, the cast gathered in the dormitory for our first show rehearsal since we arrived in the United Kingdom. Witnessing the passion and energy of Baby Wants Candy, we channeled our full focus and attention into our rehearsal, stepping out of our comfort zone to play with some new acting and character choices. The following morning, we had our last technical rehearsal before opening night, in which crew members worked with the AHSTF team to finalize lighting and cues.

Alongside our standard stage rehearsals, the Fringe Festival has given us the unique opportunity to market our show on the streets, bringing the spirit of theater to the outside world. Yesterday evening, we marched through the city from the top of Victoria Street, attracting swarms of tourists with energetic ensemble songs and passionate expressions. On our way, we handed out small bee keychains with the details of our shows, selling our show to those who enjoyed our busking. From drag queens to churro stand workers, we had so many wholesome interactions with Edinburgh locals. We can’t wait to meet even more people as we continue to advertise our show.

Of course, alongside the learning opportunities and hard work, the cast has had its fair share of youthful fun, as well. On Wednesday, we attended The Beatbox Collective: What’s Your Sound? We were blown away by the improvisation and sync of the group. They even invited one of our own cast members, Simon Kirjner, to come up on stage and improvise a piece with the group. Yesterday afternoon, the entire cast paraded around Edinburgh with Guru Dudu’s Disco Dance Tour, clad in our show jackets and bee antennae headbands to pique passerby’s interest in our show. We shimmied and discoed our way through the Royal Mile, jammin’ to Bohemian Rhapsody, ABBA, and more.

The past few days of preparation and fun will culminate in our opening show tonight. We’re so excited to share our work with an international audience!

Warmly,

Shareen and Selina