From the Bronze Age to the Digital Age humans have dreamed of eternal youth while fearing it would rob life of its true meaning.
An Edinburgh Fringe world premiere, Lifelong takes up the theme at a critical moment, when new technologies are edging us towards the possibility of massively extended lives – but probably only for the rich and powerful.
It is a collaboration between Glasgow-based Irish playwright Lynda Radley, Pepperdine Scotland from the USA and Scottish production company Scissor Kick.
The drama focusses on the privileged residents of a special facility who receive advanced medical treatments and all aspects of their lives are curated by AIs to ensure they remain in their prime for centuries. Despite their advantages, everything they have is at the whim of powerful business interests.
Radley’s work places a question mark over whether they are truly living or, like the Lotus Eaters of Homer’s Odyssey, simply existing in a vacuous dream.
The cast, students from the Department of Theatre at California’s Pepperdine University, are part of a generation whose lives are being transformed by advances in AI, technology and medicine.
Several have spoken about the immense resonance Lifelong has for them.
Actor Hailey Lee, a 21-year-old theatre and screen arts student, said: “We live in a time where the power of technology has increased so much, and will continue to grow. It’s scary to think what will become of the world.
“I’m someone who values family and relationships and although I’d love to be with them forever, I know I should cherish our together moments while they last.
“To see people today wanting to immortalise themselves and essentially ‘freeze’ themselves in the present moment is frightening.
“Lifelong is a warning. If you live forever, are you truly living? The real value of life is in the unique experiences we have each day, so go out and really live in the world while you can!”
Lee’s insight is urgent because it is about new realities that are thundering towards us, but echo some of the most ancient recorded human wisdom.
Around 4,000 years ago, long before Homer, the Mesopotamian writers of the oldest surviving epic tale had the king Gilgamesh set off to find the secret of eternal life.
He failed, returning home with the realisation that we have to accept human limitations and it’s what we do with life, and the legacy we leave, that endures.
Two-time Fringe First winner Radley says: “Ever since humans first started writing stories there has been a fascination with the pursuit of endless youthful life – and a realisation that it could be a dangerous folly.
“But where once it was purely speculative it is now on track to become scientific reality. This raises immense questions about who has access to such vastly expensive treatments, how it will be controlled and whose interests it would serve.
“In a world where tyrants and billionaires control the vast majority of wealth and power, imagine throwing centuries of extra life into the mix. The idea of perpetual domination by our current crop of leaders, tech bros and oligarchs is truly chilling.”
AI is playing a fundamental role in longevity medicine. One area of research has been into the reprogramming of bodily cells to make them “younger”.
And it is not just the number of years we live, it’s their quality. There is a shocking gap in healthy life expectancy. People in Scotland’s most deprived areas experience up to 23.4 fewer years of healthy life for women and 20.8 fewer years for men.
Scenic designer Mak Burke, a theatre arts student aged 21, believes the potential future Radley depicts is uncomfortably plausible.
They said: “As a young person, tech and AI have already heavily influenced my life and I can only imagine how much that will continue. Because of this, Lynda’s play feels like the not-so-distant future.
“For as long as there has been money and social class, there has been class inequity, and Lifelong, deals with this theme.
“Even today we often see healthcare as a luxury, and with ever-advancing technologies and AI the disparities between classes could very well become as extreme as Lynda explores.”
Actor James Davis, aged 19, who is studying theatre and screen arts, adds: “Lifelong is a show for our time. In a world where there’s so much AI and technological advancement, it’s almost impossible not rely on it.
“Many people rely on technology to live longer, and then there are people who want to replace or enhance parts of their body so they can last longer, yet there’s never any thought about what you sacrifice morally to have a longer life.”
Lifelong, running from 5-17 August, is the second collaboration between Radley and Pepperdine Scotland. Previously The Interference, earned a Fringe First (Pepperdine Scotland’s second) plus widespread critical acclaim.
Since Scissor Kick’s inception in 2021, it has been responsible for produced 17 productions, 9 research and development periods, presented 156 performances, shared our work with 21,676 audience members, and employed a total of 294 artists.
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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
