Story of Vietnam War children part of operation babylift premieres at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Fifty years ago during the Vietnam War, thousands of babies and young children were flown out of Vietnam to new homes across the western world, many of them packed in boxes. 

Some of these children were not orphans at all, but young children tragically separated from their families in a war zone.

They crossed oceans to America, Australia, the UK, Canada, and Germany, where children were raised, often alongside their parents’ biological children, in middle class families, with any link to their family or heritage in Vietnam gone. 

Now, 50 years later, the story of some of those children, and their lives, is coming to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. 

Precious Cargo. Credit: Ralph Tonge.

Barton Williams. Credit: Miguel Rodriguez

A one-person play, Precious Cargo tells the story of the lives of six Vietnam war adoptees and how they were always connected.

In 2021, Australian-raised actor Barton Williams came to Uig on the Isle of Lewis to work on the feature film Silent Roar, which went on to open the Edinburgh International Film Festival last year.

During his time filming on Lewis, a chance meeting led to discussion of his heritage and he was later introduced to musician and composer Andy Yearley, raised in the Outer Hebrides, and also a Vietnam war orphan.

Raised in strikingly similar circumstances – the only Vietnamese children in small, predominantly white communities – Barton and Andy immediately formed a bond.

Andy Yearley and Barton Williams

Andy Yearley recording in Wee Studio.

Precious Cargo, which Barton had already begun to write, expanded to become a creative collaboration between two orphans who grew up on opposite sides of the world. 

‘It’s not every day you meet a fellow Vietnamese war orphan,’ Andy says. 

‘Seeing Barton for the first time was like finding a childhood brother who shared deeply personal experiences. 

‘I’ve done music for countless projects over the years, but this one’s truly unique and special to me.’

Birthed in a warzone, raised on the beaches of Adelaide, Australia, to a bothy under the Northern Lights in Uig. This is the true story of lives well travelled, well lived, and a lot of fate. 

‘Life is full of experiences and Scotland has given me another chapter of life that is unique. Meeting and working with Andy and sruth-mara is both surreal and rewarding,’ Barton said. 

Precious Cargo @ Summerhall – Demonstration Room

Dates: 1 – 26 August.

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