NO ONE IS COMING TO SAVE US Comes to Edinburgh Fringe

Maddy is worried that no one is having fun at her party while sister Lily fears that the world is falling apart.

Friends gather on a mountaintop to watch the sunset, but a wildfire sparks in the forest below.

While the young people drink beer and chat about life, love, hopes and dreams the blaze spreads, flames engulf the trees and race towards them.

Trapped, afraid, alone – realisation dawns. no one is coming to save us. 

Can they save themselves? Dare they believe that things might still be alright?

This world premiere brings together multiple-award winning Fringe stalwarts Pepperdine Scotland with Glasgow-based playwright and performance maker Lewis Hetherington.

no one is coming to save us focusses on finding hope, no matter how fragile, in the face of an overwhelming environmental threat. It also raises a challenge. If we know that our world is facing catastrophe, what should we do to stop it? And what if the powerful refuse to act? 

Lewis said: “The climate crisis can feel remote, a distant threat, but it isn’t. The increase in terrifying wildfires we see in places like California isjust one of many, many things that are happening right now. 

“What happens when you and your friends are caught up in one – the fear, the horror, the fight to survive? Can life ever be the same again for survivors? What happens to their adolescence?

“We follow a group of young people try to navigate this threat, but also the terrain of being young, trying to have fun, fall in love, experience the world.

“And I want to ask and what happens when they try to fight back and take matters into their own hands, how far is far enough?”

Pepperdine Scotland is a cultural and artistic exchange between the Department of Theatre at California’s Pepperdine University and leading members of the Scottish theatre community.

It has a formidable track record and a powerful reputation for presenting high-quality drama that addresses pressing of contemporary issues.

Lewis is familiar to Fringe-goers, having won two Fringe Firsts. His work has been presented all over Scotland and the rest of the world.

Hollace Starr, director and Associate Professor of Theatre at Pepperdine University, said: “Today’s young people stand on a precipice. Climate Change is happening all around them – to them – shaping and shaking their world.

“How can they look forward to adulthood with hope when the future is fire, flood and toxic air? This play invites us to look at what is happening through their eyes and their urgent quest to ensure they can live in a world that is safe, where they can thrive, and which is a fit place to raise their own children.”

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