Double Fringe First winners Pepperdine Scotland and playwright Lynda Radley have renewed their partnership to premiere an urgent new work addressing the power and potential abuse of technology.
Lifelong, running from 5-17 August at this year’s Edinburgh Fringe, is set in a luxurious facility set apart from the outside world where scientific advances have been harnessed to give them previously impossibly long and youthful lives.
The daily regimen is dictated by AIs to ensure their wellbeing.
So, what happens when an outsider arrives to disrupt the routine, and what is the true cost of a long, sheltered life?
Time, it seems, is ticking after all and much is at stake.
Pepperdine Scotland is an initiative which brings together leading Scottish playwrights and students from the Department of Theatre at California’s Pepperdine University to create and present theatre tackling hot button issues at the Edinburgh Fringe.
The previous collaboration between Pepperdine Scotland and Lynda, with The Interference, earned a Fringe First (the company’s second) plus widespread critical acclaim.
Lynda said: “I am delighted to be collaborating with Pepperdine Scotland again, ten years after I first worked with them on The Interference; a deeply satisfying and meaningful experience. As ever the students are wonderfully engaged.
“When collaborating with Pepperdine the size of the cast and openness of the brief supports risk and ambition.
“I’ve chosen a subject and form for the play that is vastly different from The Interference.
“Lifelong is set in the future, but asks questions of now, something which this company of young people are more than ready to do.
“It will be a challenge to realise the strange world I’ve created, but I have no doubt in their creativity, enthusiasm and ability to bring Lifelong to life.”
Hollace Starr, associate professor of theater at Pepperdine University, will be directing a Pepperdine Scotland production for the second time.
She said: “Rapid scientific advances and the yearning for eternal life may soon see new scientific breakthroughs combine with the power of AI to vastly extend human lifespans.
“But who will benefit – the many or the few and at what price?
“The wonderful thing about Pepperdine Scotland is the opportunity it gives our up-and-coming actors to work with powerfully creative and intellectually provocative playwrights to create compelling work addressing major issues facing contemporary society.
“Coming to the Edinburgh to be part of the world’s greatest performing arts festival is always thrilling. So too is the chance to renew our collaboration with Lynda, whose play The Interference was a highpoint in the history of our company.”
Further, this edition of the Pepperdine Scotland project is produced in association with Scottish theatre company Scissor Kick.
Since Scissor Kick’s inception in 2021, they have produced 16 productions, nine research and development periods, presented 148 performances, shared their work with 21,192 audience members, and employed a total of 257 artists.
Praise for previous work from Scissor Kick includes:
- “Boldly inventive, quirky and challenging” ★★★★ – The Reviews Hub
- “One of those rare plays where you come out of the auditorium a different person from the one who went in. I couldn’t recommend this more strongly.” ★★★★★ – The Real Chris Sparkle
- “The vital Scissor Kick” ★★★★ – Corr Blimey
- “Superb theatre” ★★★★ – The Quinntessential Review.
-Ends-
Listings details
Lifelong: Presented by Pepperdine Scotland in association with Scissor Kick
- Venue: Studio 2, Assembly George Square Studios, EH8 9LH (Venue 17)
- Time: 12pm
- Dates: Previews 5-6 Aug. 7-17 Aug main run
- Duration: 70 mins
- Prices: £9 preview / £16, £15 – peak / £13 £12 non-peak
- Advisory: None
- Age: 14+
- Tickets: https://www.edfringe.com
Creative team
- Writer: Lynda Radley
- Director: Hollace Starr
- Producer: Stephanie Katie Hunter
- Dramaturg: Tom Creed
- Production manager: Paul Dufresne
- Stage manager: Tamryn Liddle
- Assistant Stage Manager: Ava Walters
- Scenic designer: Mak Burke
- Lighting designer: Aaron Quevedo
- Properties master and wardrobe supervisor: Mak Burke and Ade Zepeda
- Costume designer: Melanie Watnick
Cast
- Nicolle Castro
- Brooklyn Courtney-Moore
- James Davis IV
- Cassius Franciosa
- Hadassah
- Eden Gamble
- Skyla I’Lece
- Hailey Soomin Lee
- Nathan Roberts
- Blake Schalliol
- Kysiah Tapia
- Mandy Tatum
About Lynda Radley
Lynda’s writing has been produced in The UK, Ireland, The Netherlands, India, The USA, and Canada. Plays include: Futureproof (Dundee Rep/Traverse Theatre), Cinderella (Dundee Rep) Christmas Tales, The Mother Load (Royal Lyceum Theatre), Fourteen Voices From The Bloodied Field (The Abbey Theatre), The Maid’s Room, There Is Someone Who Hates Us (National Theatre of Scotland), Ligach And The Salmon (Pitlochry), Happier Or Better? (RCS), The Interference (Pepperdine Scotland), Berlin Love Tour, The Heights, The Art Of Swimming, Soap! (Playgroup), Birds And Other Things I Am Afraid Of (Poorboy). Radio play Our Sentence, and short story An Irish Airman Forsees His Death (part of Yeats: The Man and The Echo), were produced by Kirsty Williams, for broadcast on the BBC. Lynda received Scotsman Fringe Firsts for Futureproof and The Interference. The Interference was shortlisted for the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award and won a Broadway Baby Bobby Award. Lynda is a member of the board of Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland.
About Pepperdine Scotland
Pepperdine Scotland is the multi award-winning cultural and artistic exchange between Pepperdine University’s Department of Theatre and leading members of the Scottish Theatre Community.
In February 2012 the inaugural project saw playwright Peter Arnott and actor/musician John Kielty work with students on our first commission, Why Do You Stand There In The Rain? Following its Fringe First win, Why Do You Stand There In The Rain? returned to Scotland in 2013 as a touring production, which opened at the Traverse Theatre.
In 2014 Pepperdine Scotland presented its second world premiere, Forget Fire, devised by the company with J C Marshall.
2016’s The Interference by Lynda Radley earned us our second Fringe First Award, this time accompanied by a Broadway Baby Bobby Award and our second appearance on the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award Shortlist. The Interference subsequently transferred to the Hollywood Fringe Festival in co-production with Rogue Machine Theatre.
For 2018 Davey Anderson’s The Abode took us on a journey following young protagonist Samuel into the retro-futurist underworld of the Alt-Right, which premiered to critical acclaim and was longlisted for the Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award.
Following multiple delays due to COVID Pepperdine Scotland returned in 2022 to premiere Morna Young’s critically acclaimed Americana: A Murder Ballad. It drew on traditional murder ballads from Scotland, the USA, and the migrations between the two and featured classic songs including Delia’s Gone, Frankie & Johnny and Stagger Lee. In 2024 the company collaborated with Lewis Hetherington to present the environmental activism drama no one is coming to save us.
For more about Pepperdine Scotland see https://www.pepperdinedrama.com
- Interviews available – just get in touch.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/PepperdineScotland Instagram: www.instagram.com/PeppScotland Twitter: @PeppScotland
About Scissor Kick
Scissor Kick is a theatre company which produces live performances across a range of genres – from theatre to circus, physical theatre to new writing. We champion artists that make observant, transformative and unsettling work. We support artists to manage their projects, portfolios and relationships with networks and industry peers. We acknowledge that the work that artists conceive and produce does not exist in a vacuum; we firmly believe that our sector and its workers must engage in wider picture thinking if we are to ensure that our collective skillsets can be utilised to the best of their ability.
We apply our skills, knowledge and experience to provide artists with the best producing experience possible to realise the dreams they have for their work. We do this by creating opportunities for audiences and artists through the projects we envision, the co-productions we deliver, and through offering producing services for individuals and organisations on a case by case basis.
Since our inception in 2021, we have produced 5 national tours, made 3 short films, created an international film series in collaboration with artists and project partners across the globe (including the Royal Botanic Gardens in Melbourne!), presented 2 shows at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe as part of the Made in Scotland showcase, translated 3 best selling books (UK charts) into stage adaptations in partnership with the Edinburgh International Book Festival, and overseen the research & development processes of 11 new works. Outside of this work, independent artists have brought us onboard their projects to support their project management needs and provide them with 1-2-1 coaching.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ScissorKickCo Instagram: www.instagram.com/scissorkickco Website: www.scissorkick.co.uk
Media contact: Matthew Shelley, SFPR, 07786 704299 Matthew@Scottishfestivalspr.org