Harrogate pupils will take centre stage at Edinburgh Fringe as they debut with home-grown rock musical

A group of talented Harrogate students are to star in the world famous Edinburgh Fringe for the first time in the school’s history.

More than 20 pupils and recent Old Ashvillians will take centre stage at the world's largest arts festival for five days this August with Beth, an explosive and state-of-the-art 70-minute rock musical inspired by Shakespeare's Macbeth.

In terms of global ticketing events, the Fringe is surpassed only by the Olympics and the World Cup with more than 55,000 performances of 3,548 different shows in 317 venues over the course of 25 days.

For Ashville's performers, the production represents an opportunity to follow in the footsteps of former pupils who have gone on to achieve success across the arts, including former Ashville pupil and Downton Abbey star Jim Carter OBE, after whom the school’s drama studio is named in his honour.

The Ashville students will be taking their place in the limelight with Beth from August 24 to August 29 at theSpace@Venue 45.

Such is the excitement at this first for the school, the young cast simply can’t wait to get there.

Head of Ashville, Rhiannon Wilkinson, said: "We are incredibly proud of the pupils and staff involved in this production.

"Taking a show to the Edinburgh Fringe for the first time is a significant achievement and reflects the creativity, imagination, commitment and ambition of everyone involved.

"The Edinburgh Fringe provides an outstanding platform for young performers and we are excited to see our pupils share their work with audiences from across the world."

Written, created and brought to life by Ashville's Performing Arts team, the production is a gender-swapped reimaging of The Bard’s classic tragedy through a contemporary lens. It transforms Macbeth into ‘Beth - an ambitious warrior whose pursuit of power, destiny and desire drives the story forward.

The production follows last summer's ambitious open-air performance in Ashville’s 70-acre campus and marks another significant milestone for Ashville's thriving performing arts programme.

Leading the cast is former Ashville pupil Gabby Salvin, who is currently training at Leeds Conservatoire.

She takes on the title role of ‘Beth, a complex anti-heroine whose ambition and vulnerability sit at the heart of the story.

Ashville’s Director of Performing Arts, Karl Boyd, said: ““What makes Beth unlike any Fringe offering is its immersive sonic architecture.

"Using state-of-the-art spatial audio, the entire soundtrack is broadcast directly to each audience member through wireless headphone technology."

As they make their own Fringe debut, the he Ashville students are writing the latest chapter in the school's rich performing arts story.