The PFHS theater students got the opportunity to travel to Edinburgh, Scotland this summer for a once in a lifetime performance.

Have you ever wondered what it’s like to perform a school production 3,000 miles from home?

Last school year, the theater community at Potomac Falls High School organized a summer trip to Edinburgh, Scotland. They spent their time abroad seeing monuments in Scotland, and rehearsing to perform their play, The Great Johnstown Flood of 1889. The play was written by theater teacher Corinne Fox, and Lily Rossi, a senior and co-director of drama productions at PFHS. They traveled to Scotland on Aug. 4 and arrived home on Aug. 15.

The Great Johnstown Flood of 1889 is based on the true story of a tragic flood that struck Johnstown, Pennsylvania, which killed over 2,000 people. The play focused on the people at the time and how the likelihood of a flood killing so many wasn’t something to worry about.

It showed the result of the flood and the grief people experienced after losing so many loved ones. Rossi said, “I loved being able to perform the show… we had people who had personal connections to the story in the audience and that was also nice.”

During the 12 day trip, the group of 15 students and six teachers performed their play one time at the Paradise Green theater in Edinburgh, Scotland.  “My favorite thing personally was seeing how other people lived their lives outside of the States; you’d be surprised how different it is from Europe and the States,” said sophomore Charles Fisher.

In addition to performing, the group had the chance to see Les miserables and Back to the Future and performed in the Paradise Green theater. In their downtime, they explored the country.  “I loved getting to see the cities I had never been to and being able to get to know the other theater kids better… It was amazing to see the play come to light on an international stage.”

Students stayed in a Marriot hotel with 4-6 to a room, which sometimes became tiresome. The group had free time to explore but needed to check in with a chaperone every hour. Fox stated, “We gave them a lot of freedom to kind of be on their own… and that lack of structure kind of took some people by surprise.”

The students having to plan activities on their own and being cautious of their safety and the safety of their peers is a much larger responsibility than when traveling with adults and chaperones. 

Despite difficulty in the beginning of the trip, this opportunity to go out and see new things created so many captivating moments, like performing in new environments in front of unfamiliar audiences and viewing other attractions in Edinburgh. “Being able to perform there was an experience I will never forget,” said sophomore Owen Cook.