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MADDY IS WORRIED that no one is having
fun at her party while sister Lily fears that the
world is falling apart.
A new US-Scottish collaboration for the
Edinburgh Fringe opens with a group of
friends gathered on a mountaintop to watch
the sunset.
But then 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?
Every two years the theatre department
of California’s Pepperdine University teams up
with a leading Scottish playwright, and other
creatives, to develop a Fringe production that
addresses one of the great social issues of
our time.
And they are hugely successful, having
garnered Fringe First awards and a multitude
of four and five star reviews.
This time around Pepperdine Scotland is
working with Lewis Hetherington, himself the
winner of Fringe Firsts and many other awards,
to find new, better, more human and
compelling ways to explore the climate crisis.
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? How far can we, and should we go?
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 is just 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?”
Lewis was an ideal choice for the project as
his work as a playwright and performance
maker is deeply rooted in collaboration.
In this case the production has beenNo One is Coming to Save
Us - or are they?
LEAH COLOFF is a pretty
impressive musician. David Bowie,
Iggy Pop, Debbie Harry all thought
so when she played with them – so
did the judges who recently
awarded her a Grammy.
Shame about her dad then.
That’s family for you!
Clearing out the family home
after the death of her father she
came across an old letter to her
music tutor.
In it her dad, Lawrence (himself a
music teacher) wrote that Leah just
didn’t have what it takes to be a
professional.
This year Leah is coming across
from the USA to go on stage in
Edinburgh telling her inspirational
story through spoken word, song
and music.
Her view now is that
perfectionism sucks.
So, if being perfect is beyond
you – how about being Super
Second Rate?
And maybe life’s unwelcome and
unexpected discoveries can set you
free and even be something to sing
about.
Super Second Rate is a show
that’s funny, poignant and humanefrom a woman who the New York
Times says “plays and sings with
artful angularity and a rock-
inflected assertiveness”.
Leah says: “In every family there’s
a set of values. What your parents
think is important in life.
“They are NOT written down and
posted on the wall. But everyone in
the family knows what you gotta
do to belong and get love.
“This show is about unwinding
the family rules and coming to
peace with these expectations.
“The implicit rules in my family
were: PLAY MUSIC! BE BETTER THAN
OTHER PEOPLE AT MUSIC! But be
humble, don’t act like you’re
special! Just be better and special,
but with humility!
Super Second Rate puts that aside
in favour of being yourself and
doing what you want in the way you
want to do it. That’s better!”
Raised in the Pacific northwest,
Leah’s music interweaves her
classical roots with 70s punk rock in
a style she identifies as CLUNK.
In the classical realm, Leah has
worked with contemporary
composers including Philip Glass,
Ted Hearne, Joel Thome, Sean Friarand Michael Gordon
She has also performed and
recorded with artists including Trey
Anastasio, David Bowie, Iggy Pop,
Michael Cerveris, Rufus Wainwright,
Lou Reed, Damon Albarn, Ziggy
Marley, Linda Thompson, Dean &
Britta, Angelique Kidjo, Nancy
Sinatra and Mark Mulcahy.
Then there are her own songs
and music, which have been
characterised as honest, sensual,
funny, brutal, pissed-off, beautiful
and chilly sweet.
And this year the multiple
award-winning Leah, and her
colleagues in the Scorchio Quartet
and Tonality, took the Grammy for
best new age, ambient or chant
album for So She Howls by
composer Carla Patullo.
Leah was also a member of the
seven-piece onstage band for
Daniel Fish’s Oklahoma! from its run
at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn
to the Tony Award winning
production on Broadway.Venue: theSpace@Surgeons’ Hall,
Haldane Theatre (Venue 53).
Tickets: https://tickets.edfringe.
comWhen Super Second Rate is best
Leah with Debbie HarryPepperdine castinformed by the experiences of the students
themselves – all of them growing up in the era
where the impacts of climate change are felt
ever-more powerfully.
Several have been affected by vast wildfires,
others by the increasing frequency of immense
and violent storms. Others still have been
raised in areas where the traditionally snowy
winters have grown milder and warmer.
Hollace Starr, director and Associate
Professor of Theatre at Pepperdine University,
said: “Today’s young people stand on a
precipice. Climate Change is happening allaround 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.”Pleasance Beside. Tickets: https://tickets.
edfringe.comGrammy winning cellist Leah ColoffCalifornian university theatre group’s new play