Mimi Martin Brings YOUTH IN FLAMES To Edinburgh Fringe

Dare Theatre will present a powerful new work, set against the backdrop of the 2019 Hong Kong protests, at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Youth in Flames is a powerful coming-of-age story in which Mimi Martin weaves fiction from lived experience, exploring identity, belonging, and the price of resistance.

Written and performed by Mimi Martin, the piece follows Millie; a British-Hong Kong expat teenager who's spent her life moving between countries and whose world is upended as she becomes drawn into the student-led protest movement.

Initially disconnected from the unrest, Millie is pulled into the heart of the action through her friendship with Jesse, a local and passionate boy committed to the pro-democracy cause. A single night starting at a protest and ending in a nightclub has devastating consequences, forcing Millie to reckon with her guilt and privilege.

During a police raid on the club, and whilst high on pills, Millie is separated from Jesse and watches in horror as he becomes a victim of brutal police violence. By morning, her memory is fragmented, and Jesse is gone. As she retraces her steps across the city, Millie is confronted by a distorted official narrative: Jesse, now in a coma, is being blamed for his own injuries. Faced with the truth and her own silence, Millie turns to the Hong Kong community who show her the reality of a city under threat. In a bid to help Jesse, Millie finally listens to the world around her, and begins to understand what "home" really means.

Inspired by real events and informed by the playwright's own experiences of living through the Hong Kong protests, Youth in Flames is a work of fiction that captures the emotional truth of a city in chaos.

Performed on a bare stage with immersive lighting and sound blending pounding techno with the raw intensity of a Hong Kong riot, Youth in Flames captures the emotional highs and crushing lows of youth activism in an increasingly hostile political landscape.

Mimi Martin began writing Youth in Flames after leaving Hong Kong, drawing on her own experiences and the stories of friends who stayed behind. For many of them, speaking out could risk harsh sanctions. Now based in the UK, Mimi uses the safety and privilege of distance to share a story her friends cannot. Youth in Flames offers an unflinching yet deeply personal perspective on a complex political moment, asking urgent questions about freedom, identity, and who has the privilege to tell the stories that shape our lives.

Whilst focussing firmly on the turmoil of Hong Kong in 2019, the play's themes resonate far beyond the city. In the UK, for example, the 2022 Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act introduced tighter restrictions on protest activity, raising concerns about the erosion of democratic rights. In the US, protests around racial justice, climate change, and women's rights have faced increasingly forceful police responses. Youth in Flames invites audiences to consider how state suppression can take root even in democratic societies, and how young people often stand at the forefront of challenging that trend.

Get Broadway News on WhatsApp

Receive the latest updates, breaking news, and exclusive coverage from Broadway directly in WhatsApp.