MANCHESTER — While their classmates are spending the early days of summer vacation at the beach, a dozen West High School students are still going to school. They're preparing to perform on one of the biggest stages of their lives.

The West students are heading to the annual Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland, one of the world's largest performance festivals. To be selected to attend the Fringe's American High School Theater Festival, a school's theater program must be nominated, usually by someone at the college level within that state. Of the 2,500 schools nominated, 50 are selected to attend. The Theater Knights are the third group from New Hampshire to get a nod and the only group from the state ever to be invited twice.

Although the students are excited for the challenge and opportunity to be part of an international theater festival, this year's trip will be somewhat bittersweet for some of the students and West's theater teacher Timothy Benner. Benner retired from teaching at West at the end of the school year and is stepping down as the leader of the theater program after 18 years.

The program will be taken over by English teacher Ann Holmes, who has taught at West for 13 years.

“It's sad of course,” said senior Bethanie Ryan of Benner's departure. “We still have everyone here, though, and we're a really tight-knit group.”

“I think he's trained our company well enough for us to go on without him,” said Lindsey Allard, a recent West graduate. “Everyone will miss him.”

For almost two weeks, the students have been rehearsing “Give and Take,” an ensemble play by Michael Scanlan that retells folk tales from around the world and focuses on themes of greed and generosity. Instead of a traditional cast in which a student plays one role throughout, the play includes different vignettes, giving students the opportunity to play different roles. On Thursday morning, Benner was running the students through a scene, adjusting placement on the stage and the timing of lines. The students ran the scene over and over, moving quickly to make the most of their rehearsal time.

“I couldn't ask for a better group of kids,” said Benner of the 12 that will be heading to Scotland. He called the group hardworking. “It's part of the work ethic I've tried to instill in the time I've been here.”

The students will continue rehearsing until they leave for Scotland on July 31. The students will give four performances at Studio at Church Hill during the festival and return Aug. 13.

Allard said this will be the first time she's left the country and is looking forward to performing on an international stage.

West graduate Haylie Zebrowski said she is eager to “meet a bunch of new people and see all the culture and immersing myself all I can.”

Each student had to raise more than $6,000 to attend the festival — not an easy feat especially during the same year Central High School music students raised thousands of dollars to attend services in Hawaii to commemorate the attack on Pearl Harbor. The fundraising was nonstop for most of the students, selling Yankee Candles and popcorn and holding car washes and a craft fair. Students also sent individual fundraising letters to family, friends and local community organizations asking them to give the “gift of theater” on their behalf.

The West students will get to see the fruit of their efforts in just under a month.

blamontagnehall@unionleader.com