Lee County native Emily Kitchens’ play headed to Edinburgh Festival Fringe

NEW YORK — In early 2014, Leesburg native Emily Kitchens began jotting down notes in a little brown notebook as she made daily commutes on the New York City subway.

As her journaling progressed, the Lee County High alum began to notice a pattern to her notes. And when she put the pieces together, they eventually became “RAFT,” her first attempt at writing a play. She and her sister, Lisa, will perform two plays in New York later this month and return home for a July 31 performance in Leesburg before heading to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Scotland for 12 performances in August.

“I’m not a writer, but I surprised myself. (Writing a play) wasn’t something I set out to do,” Emily Kitchens said Friday. “I was just jotting down thoughts while riding on New York City subway trips. I said to myself, ‘Don’t edit yourself, just let this thing come out.’ After a while I realized it was dialog.

“Things kinda took off from there.”

The play follows two sisters, played by Emily and Lisa, as they take to a river, floating away from the chaos of modern life. Their journey, steeped in the traditions and texture of American folklore, forces the sisters to re-examine their past, their faith, and their relationship with each other as they drift onward in search of a new home and a simpler time

The two New York City performances and the local performance in Leesburg are previews in preparation for the show’s international debut at the Festival Fringe. The month-long festival — the largest theater art festival in the world — features exceptional new productions from around the globe.

After graduating from Lee County, the Kitchens sisters went on to undergraduate studies at the University of Evansville in Indiana, and completed their graduate studies at the renowned American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. Each is a professional actor with numerous accomplishments and accolades.

Most recently, Emily Kitchens performed in a leading role at the world-renowned Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis, and Lisa Kitchens appeared in a new and critically acclaimed off-Broadway production in New York.

As a member of The Group Lab, an enclave of creative people in the city, Emily Kitchens leaned heavily on the group to push the “RAFT” project forward.

“When I brought the idea of a play up, they said, ‘Yeah, let’s do this,’” Kitchens said. “The Group Lab is a wonderful artistic house. Creativity just fills the air.”

She enlisted her sister and their friend and collaborator Paul Kite to read the first full draft of “RAFT” with her. And now, with the support of director Jenna Panther, marketing coordinator Ben Charles, and producer Matthew Ellis Murphy, they are ready to push the envelope a little farther.

“RAFT” is The Group Lab’s first production, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe is the ideal venue in which to do so. Much like the Sundance Film Festival gives aspiring filmakers and actors an opportunity to spread their wings, the Edinburgh Festival does the same with theater companies.

“Edinburgh is where people go to take risks,” Emily Kitchens said. “The place will be filled with energy and excitement. We can’t wait to get there and see what happens.”

Locally, the sisters will perfom “RAFT” at Leesburg’s Robert A. Clay Auditorium on July 31. Curtain time for the performance is 8 p.m. No admission fee will be charged.