MSU’s Little Company makes big impression at Edinburgh Fringe Festival

The Little Company, MSU’s touring theatre troupe, usually travels the region to educate children and immerse them in the world of theatre. This past summer, The Little Company traveled quite a bit farther from campus to showcase the quality and talent of MSU’s theatre program on an international stage.

Department of Music, Theatre and Dance faculty, staff and students made the trip across the pond this past August to Edinburgh, Scotland, to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Known as the world’s largest arts festival, last year’s festival spanned 25 days and featured performance of nearly 4,000 shows in 300 venues by representatives of 40 countries.

During the 12 days at the festival, 22 students helped produce The Little Company’s version of “Einstein’s Dream,” an adaptation from an Alan Lightman novel, for four full performances at Central Hall and a condensed, 20-minute version the group showcased at Edinburgh’s renowned Royal Mile between Holyrood Palace and Edinburgh Castle.

Octavia Biggs-Fleck, director of The Little Company, said she could not have been prouder of the students’ level of professionalism and the way they positively represented MSU, the state of Kentucky and their country.

“I was moved to tears on a daily basis watching some of these students from Eastern Kentucky that had never been out of Eastern Kentucky get on a plane and travel thousands of miles overseas and experience an art festival that is nothing they’ve ever experienced before in their lives,” Biggs-Fleck said. “Everybody there supports the arts and being in an environment like that is something every artist needs to experience so they know they’re not alone in the world fighting to do their craft.”

For more information on The Little Company, call 606-783-2545 or email thelittlecompany@moreheadstate.edu, or visit www.moreheadstate.edu/thelittlecompany.

To learn more about MSU's theatre and dance programs, call 606-783-5447 or email mtd@moreheadstate.edu, or visit www.moreheadstate.edu/theatre.