Several Ohio State students will be making their international debut at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland on Aug. 7 as part of The Young Adult Production Company of the Columbus Children’s Theatre.Doug Avery, a junior journalism major, Heather Noelle Burley, a sophomore theater major, Reilly Hill, a junior history major, Gordon Holey, a senior theater major and Allyson Morgan, a freshman theater major, will be portraying Celtic mythical characters in “The Druid Tree.” Colin Sweet, a senior theater major, and Tino Benedetti, a freshman music major, will play guitar in musical accompaniment.Written by Joy H. Reilly, Tadd Russo and Bill Benton, the message in “The Druid Tree” is one of friendship and ecology. In ancient times, Druids were the priests of the Celtic people. Their belief system was based on the natural world, and trees were an integral part of their religion. Two of the musical’s characters are “Anam” and “Cara,” which in the Gaelic language mean “soul” and “friend.” Cara, a young girl of our world, crosses over into the mythical Celtic world where she meets Anam. Together, the two must find a way to stop rainforest depletion for the sake of both worlds.This original musical’s initial motivation came from Reilly. “Actually, it has to do with OSU, funnily enough,” said Reilly, an associate professor in the Theater Department. “I sat in on a class that was taught by a colleague in the English Department in Renaissance Study. It was called ‘The Celtic World.’ I thought, ‘Well, I’m Celtic. I think I’ll go and see what they’re talking about.’ It blew my mind.”Reilly, originally from Ireland, returned home after the course was completed. “I went to look at sacred stone sights from a totally different point of view of how and where I had come from, from a mythological point of view. I was much more informed looking at them. It meant much more to me. And so that’s how the topic got started.”Reilly then enlisted the aid of Russo and Benton to bring the mythic to life with song and dance. “We bounce ideas off each other continually about the script, the lyrics and the music,” said Benton, composer and lyricist for the production. “Russo is a composer/arranger and he did all the arrangements for my melodies and wrote two songs for this play also.”Reilly is in the Theater Department, so she didn’t need to look far for much of the talent. “She’s my adviser in the department,” Holey said. “She was always talking to me about the show and showed a lot of interest and everything.”Initially a musician for the play, Holey was asked by Reilly to replace an actor who had quit. “I jumped into it and in a week and a half of rehearsals we were performing. It was a lot of crunch time coming in and performing right away,” said Holey.”I play Phook, leader of the goblins,” Holey said. “He’s among the tree spirits, the nefarious Phookahs, that run around and create all kinds of havoc. (This is a) very high-energy part. I’m very excited to do it.”The Edinburgh Fringe Festival’s roots go back to 1947 when several acting companies showed up uninvited at the Edinburgh International Festival.Determined that their acts be seen, these companies performed their shows in fields, parks or any available area in and around Edinburgh. A reporter covering the international festival caught these outsiders’ shows and commented that those on the “fringe” were just as good as the others. Thus, “The Fringe” was born.Highly regarded, the Fringe is telecast throughout the British Isles. In London, a series of billboard-sized television screens are peppered throughout the city and will show the Fringe in detail.If performing in a musical and going overseas isn’t enough excitement, the troupe recently received news that they will also have debuts on the Internet. On Aug. 8 there will be a 10-minute spot and on Aug. 10 there will be a 20-minute spot. Because of time zone differences, both will appear at 7 a.m. on www.festivalrevue.com.According to Benton, it is unknown at this time if Internet performances will be re-broadcast for later viewing by American audiences.Despite that, excitement still runs high for the players concerning the Internet broadcast. “I think it’s great,” said Burley. “It’s good exposure.”