Life Before the Line: Cambridge student production heads to Edinburgh Fringe Festival telling stories of anti-Semitism, coming of age and cystic fibrosis

My name’s Amy, I’m 21 and I’m a recent graduate from the University of Cambridge. When I was at uni, I got involved with the student activities community and did a lot of writing and acting and directing. I’ve written a play called Life Before the Line, which won the Cambridge University Amateur Dramatic Society Edinburgh Fringe Fund. It’s fully funded to go to Edinburgh – it pays for the venue, publicity, accommodation, all costs.

We’re very lucky to be supported financially in Edinburgh, so we’d love to use this opportunity to raise awareness about CF and raise donations for Cystic Fibrosis Trust in memory of Dylan Samuels.

“I wanted to write something that represented the diversity of the Jewish community”

The play follows a group of Jewish teenagers growing up in Manchester during the rise in anti-Semitism around 2016 to 2017. I wrote the play during lockdown. I was kind of reflecting on my time at King David School in Manchester, which is a Jewish school. Although the play is fictional, it was inspired by events that happen there. Growing up, I didn’t really have much representation, particularly culturally, of Jewish people, Jewish lives, particularly modern Jewish people in the UK. And I wanted to write something that represented that diversity of the Jewish community, and could really make people in that community feel seen, but also people outside of it being able to relate to it.

I think one of the important themes within the play is looking at the diversity in the Jewish community and the range of experiences that people have. Being Jewish is an ethnicity, which means Jewish people are at risk of certain genetic diseases, and Jewish people are more likely to have rare forms of cystic fibrosis that aren’t treatable by CFTR modulators. So that was something I wanted to shed light on.

“Dylan was incredibly bright and popular – I don’t think anyone will ever forget him”

I was inspired by someone who I went to school with. His name was Dylan Samuels. He was incredibly bright, really popular, really well loved, a really gifted football player. He was scouted by Manchester United when he was really young, and he also had cystic fibrosis. In 2015 he had a lung transplant, but there were complications and he passed away. It really shook my school and the whole community, really. I don’t think anyone will ever forget.

One of the main characters in the show, Danny, has CF. He’s very different to Dylan and he’s not written to be him, but he’s inspired by him. I wanted to talk sensitively about these topics. I wanted to raise awareness of CF and talk about how wonderful and inspiring he was. After reaching out to his family, we donated all the money from the show’s first run to Cystic Fibrosis Trust with their blessing.

“I hope people from any background can find something in the play that resonates with them”

It's really exciting to take the play to the Edinburgh Fringe. It’s such a joy to be able to take a show I really care about and that will hopefully touch a lot of people. I really hope people enjoy watching the show, that they’re able to connect with the characters and that they find something that resonates with them, no matter what their background is. I think the story is so universally human.

Life Before the Line runs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival on 15-20/22-27 August at 11:20am at theSpace Venue 45. Tickets are available here.

Amy is raising funds for Cystic Fibrosis Trust via JustGiving.

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Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic condition which causes sticky mucus to build up in the lungs and digestive system. It affects more than 10,800 people in the UK. One in 25 of us carries the faulty gene that causes it, usually without knowing.

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