Lewis Hetherington is a playwright and performance maker. Their work is rooted in collaboration and storytelling. Lewis is a member of Pepperdine Scotland, a critically acclaimed theatre group. No One Is Coming To Save Us is their latest project. We caught up with Lewis to find out more.
STARBURST: How would you pitch No One Is Coming To Save Us to a fan of the TV show Love Island?
Lewis Hetherington: This is a show about a group of young people trying to make their way in today’s world, which so often seems full of overwhelming challenges. The story begins when they get caught in a wildfire and we see how that shapes the rest of their lives. The characters in the show are funny, flawed, frightened, full of passion, and determined to find peace however they can.
And how would you pitch it to someone who’s very keen on recycling?
If we are going to tackle the climate crisis, we need to radically reinvent the way we live. I don’t believe that that means we have to sacrifice and live smaller or thinner lives. I think that we can find new ways of being where we’re more in harmony with the natural world and each other and actually find more nourishing and beautiful ways to live. This show is about a group of young people who are forced to face the horrors of the climate crisis when they are trapped in a wildfire but shows us ways to face the future with hope and heart.
It begins at a party. Where did the idea for this come from?
The very origin of the idea was just my admiration for young people standing up to make change and to fight for a better future. And I suppose what I wanted to do was find the really human stories within that. Being young is hard enough when you’re trying to work out who you fancy, and who your mates are and what you’re going to do with your life, I wanted to create something that wove all of that into the lives of young people who are also trying to build a new world.
Can stories about the end of the world save the world?
I think stories can be a way of facing the complexity, pain, and wonder of the world we live in. Stories absolutely have the power to make us understand the world and ourselves more deeply. They have the power to bear witness to injustice, cruelty and violence.
How different is this show from the initial idea behind it?
Good question! In some ways, it’s changed a lot. In the first draft, there was no fire; it was set further into the future, and the characters were much more loosely connected, and it involved some of them travelling across America. There were also some scenes on Pluto. But in another way I think that that change is part of the process, these things grow organically; in the same way that an acorn doesn’t look like an oak tree, you plant the seed and then it will grow.
How hard was it to get a show like this on at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe?
I was very lucky that Pepperdine Scotland was extremely supportive of me as a writer to follow my interests, and also specifically this area of exploration into the environment and our relationship with it.
Why the Edinburgh Fringe?
Where to start!? It’s the most extraordinary place to share ideas to share work with those who might never get to see it. There’s an incredible concentration of people who are up for having experiences, who are open to new types of work, and up for thinking about the big questions about what it means to be human.
What’s your favourite spooky thing?
The Moon.
What’s next?
I’ve written an extremely bonkers and fun version of Rumplestiltskin for Platform Theatre which will be on at Christmas this year. It’s about the lengths we’ll go to get what we want, and what we may sacrifice along the way… with lots of songs and jokes. I love getting to make something that is joyful and for people of all ages.
What is your favourite moment from the show?
I don’t know! It keeps changing! There’s a bit with toads that I love. And a mention of Total Eclipse of the Heart, which I really enjoy.
NO ONE IS COMING TO SAVE US runs from July 31st to August 13th at the Edinburgh Fringe. You can book here.
