It’s fair to say that Pepperdine Scotland is a reliable staple at the Fringe. It’s also fair that having brought to the stage such shows as Why Do You Stand There In The Rain? And the staggeringly concussive The Interference, they have a style. When you go into a Pepperdine show, you can expect a play that delves into an socio-cultural or political issue and showcases the complexities as they pertain to the youth of today. no one is coming to save us is no different.
Following a band of school leavers enjoying a countryside trip on the cusp of college, we are thrown into the midst of the perils of climate change. A random act leads to a forest fire, and the happy innocent lives of the group are thrown into tragedy as each deals with the grief and horror in different ways.
Lewis Hetherington’s play never feels preachy, but neither does it pull its punches. It’s a play that doesn’t let up, at least not once it’s clear where the story is going. After some entertainingly warm and believable, if perhaps overlong, character establishing work, we’re thrust into a whirlwind of powerlessness and outcry as the group try to reckon with the realities of global economics and industrialism, and their weight on politics. Meanwhile, a quartet of ghosts lead the audience through their own tragic stories, as they help ease a new spectre into eternity.
That said, and despite the cast bringing a wealth of emotional weight and brilliant performances, there’s something missing from the piece. A lack of resolution, which perhaps mirrors the helpless feelings of impotence of the characters as they protest and commit minor acts of eco-terrorism. The play tries hard not to judge, but in doing so, it feels like it lacks a pinning at the end, and in doing so, strays perilously close to condoning and even endorsing individual acts of violence, which isn’t a message bourne out by the story itself.
It’s more of a howl of frustration, one that does still have a clinging hope for the future, but one that lacks the punch and solid resolve of some of the company’s previous masterpieces.