At the beginning of 2022, St Catherine’s School, Twickenham, began to assemble a crew and group of talented actors who would travel to Edinburgh to perform an original piece illustrating the life of Medusa - a fatally wronged Greek Goddess whose story has been continuously distorted throughout history. Our Drama teacher and one of our English teachers collaboratively wrote a script granting her the story she has always deserved. 

 

Edinburgh Fringe Festival is the largest arts and media festival in the world, having featured more than 3,500 companies making up 55,000 performances displayed at 317 different venues. In 1947, just eight uninvited companies showed up at the Edinburgh International Festival to perform their shows. Since then more and more groups assembled to perform, and by 1958 the Fringe Society was officially formed. Prior to being closed in 2020, and including a significantly scaled down capacity in 2021, the Fringe returned this year. From the 5th to 29th August 2022 there were 49,927 performers.  

 

We were initially overwhelmed by the vast number of people who had convened to perform at the Fringe. We were impressed by the diversity of shows; ranging from Cirque Berserque to The Freedom Ballet of Ukraine. The festival truly caters for everyone as it includes theatre, opera, spoken word, exhibitions, cabaret, circus, dance, ballet, musicals and much more. There was also a myriad of different organisations such as schools and universities, alongside professional actors, comedians and companies. The festival doesn't just attract performers and visitors from all around the world, it’s also a hotspot for creative producers and all the media scouting for the next big talent. 

 

As we watched the ballets and musicals we became enchanted by the power of voice and dance. The Fringe Festival truly was an immersive experience, which allowed us to delve into our creative sides and experience one of the most beautiful fine arts in the world: performance.