This past summer, Sacred Heart University’s Theatre Arts Program (TAP) took on the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, where the original musical written by alumnus Paul Richard Keegan, “Reject Me Already” (RMA) was performed. The team landed in Scotland on July 31 and performed 21 times.
The performances ran from Aug. 2 until Aug. 24, and they only had two days off throughout the run. They performed each night at the Greenside Venues. Each night, the people in the cast would play a different role, and the audience would decide who played which part.
Source: Instagram, @rejectmemusical
Junior Katie McCabe was the props designer for the show, and she worked with the cast and crew during the summer, leading up to the cast’s departure to Scotland.
“I loved working with this team. I was lucky to already know everyone I worked with, making it easy to communicate with them,” said McCabe.
McCabe produced about 40 props for the show, and had to find things like flip phones, a record player and shopping baskets. She said, “I had to find a polaroid camera, with working film, since a scene in the show required a photo to be taken on the spot.”
McCabe was excited to see how the production had grown since its initial iteration. “I have loved ‘Reject Me Already’ since we first performed it in 2023, and the changes that were made in this version made me love it even more,” said McCabe. “I was so interested in seeing how our playwright worked and adjusted the show as we continued to run it.”
Junior Sage Sperling was an actor in the production and had to learn many different parts alongside their peers. “I think the best part of this production is how hands-on it was, at least for me. I enjoyed putting in all of the work that I did, not only as an actor, but designing costumes as well,” said Sperling.
Once they got to Edinburgh, they spent many days advertising their show and getting people to show up for their performances.
“Personally, what I liked more about the Scotland audience was that they didn’t know us, and they weren’t afraid to make the couples and characters what one in the US would traditionally want,” said Sperling. “In Scotland, they simply didn’t care. If your intro was funny and you flirted with the audience enough, get ready because you’re Casey or Cameron that night.”
Getting to play multiple different characters was something the cast had to adjust to, but they enjoyed the experience. “I tried to stay neutral during performances of course, however I’d have to say that my favorite character to play was actually Cameron,” said Sperling. They didn’t get to play that role in Scotland, but they felt it was great to live in that nerdy, shy world again just for a moment, as they felt personally connected to the role.
Senior Grace Peknic, a fellow member of the RMA cast, said, “The best part of this experience was doing what I love alongside my best friends who I love and admire so much.”
The Fringe Festival allowed her to make new connections, along with enhancing old ones.
Promotional poster for “Reject Me, Already” by Alumni Paul Richard Keegan.
Source: Instagram, @rejectmemusical
“I made a really great connection with a fellow Greenside performer, whose show was immediately after ours,” said Peknic. “Everyone at the Fringe shares a very special bond. It’s truly the Olympics of Theatre. We are all performing and marketing our show every day during the Festival.”
“The lesson of the show is that everyone deserves a picture perfect romance. The Fringe only solidified that I take with me every lesson I have learned through Sacred Heart and TAP,” said Peknic.
