Producing the Play

PRODUCTION HISTORY





1. New Group Off-Broadway 2003




Theater at St. Clement's Church

New York, New York

April 6, 2003 - May 11, 2003


Director: Scott Elliot
Scenery: Derek McLane
Costumes: Mattie Ullrich
Lighting: Jason Lyons
Sound: Ken Travis



The play [...] was produced by the New Group and the Women's Project, and it has been directed as delicately as possible by Scott Elliott on a set by Derek McLane that depicts the hills of Lockerbie as a wooden, three-dimensional contour map. The mist is kept to a minimum. But little can be done to leaven Ms. Brevoort's script...

Bruce Weber, The New York Times

April 10, 2003

http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?res=9b04e4dd1f38f933a25757c0a9659c8b63

Scott Elliott, who took over as director from the previously announced Wilson Milam, steers the actors smoothly up and down the Greek drama inspired hills. Director, actors and the playwright's language manage to make palatable the bathos of Bill's inevitable bursting into tears and Madeline's joining the women in washing the clothes in the stream at the edge of the stage (another bravo touch by set designer Derek McLane). Thus, even knowing we've been manipulated, we end up dabbing at our own damp eyes and being genuinely touched.
Elyse Sommer, Curtain Up
2003
http://www.curtainup.com/womenoflockerbie.html





2. Orange Tree Theatre





Orange Tree Theatre

Richmond, Surrey, London

August 31, 2005 - October 1, 2005


Director: Auriol Smith
Designed by: Sam Dowson
Lighting: Oliver Fenwick



Vital argument is avoided and Brevoort's pseudo-poetic language - "she's like a tree that's been struck by lightning" - too often grates. The staging, with its pool of water and tables placed atop each other to suggest hills, lacks imagination. Yet Auriol Smith's production is garlanded with overwhelming scenes of pathos, thanks to superlative actors: Lisa Eichorn's crazed mother obsessively mourning her dead son, Colette O'Neill's bereft Lockerbie woman cursing the Americans in shuddering spasms of grief [...] , all imbue the Women of Lockerbie with heartfelt poignancy.
Nicholas de Jongh, The Evening Standard
September 5, 2005
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/review-20266500-stars-rise-in-the-mourning.do



The acting throughout is superb and never mawkish, although special mention needs to be made for Colette O'Neil who, as Olive Allison, leads the women of Lockerbie in their fight against the man from the State Department. Portraying her as a solid Scottish woman in sensible shoes and tweeds makes her revelation half way through the play all the more shocking and heartbreaking. Sam Dowson's set design is particularly clever, with a series of stairs linking the stage with the gallery, representing the hills over which the grieving Madeline roams.
Lisa Hunt, musicOMH
http://www.musicomh.com/theatre/women-of-lockerbie_0905.htm




3. New Jersey Repertory Company





New Jersey Repertory Theater

Long Branch, New Jersey

March 25, 2006 - April 30, 2006


Director: Jason King Jones
Scenery: Jo Winiarski
Costumes: Patricia E. Doherty
Lighting: Jill Nagle
Sound: Merek Royce Press


As the lead woman of Lockerbie, Corinne Edgerly nearly chews the green Scottish hills to mulch, overplaying every expression, every word and practically every scene. She has taken on a grand Greek acting style here, but the theater is too intimate and the play too literal for the bluster. One of the most lovely performances among the cast of seven is delivered by the contemplative, red-haired Alice Connorton, billed simply as Woman 1 who found body parts in her garden that strange December morning.
Kerri Allen, The New York Times
April 2, 2006
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D00E6DF1230F931A35757C0A9609C8B63&scp=2&sq=women%20of%20lockerbie&st=cse



David Volin and Michele Tauber, as the boorish bureaucrat from the State Department and his cleaning lady, appear at first as something akin to comic relief. Volin's trademark edgy, urban sort of characterization seems particularly out of place in this quasi-mystical tableau, although perhaps that's the point. It's a definite credit to this cast and director that they're able to find a real emotional resonance at the heart of an often surreal script. The very genuine issues of loss and love and closure touched upon herein mean that every teardrop will be earned in full.
Tom Chesek, Asbury Park Press
March 29, 2006
http://www.njrep.org/inthenews2006.htm#lockerbie




4. The Actor's Gang



Culver City, California

Feb. 24, 2007 - April 28, 2007


Director: Brent Hinkley
Scenery: Sibyl Wickersheimer
Costumes: Ann Closs-Farley
Lighting: Bosco Flanagan
Sound: John Zalewski



Director Brent Hinkley does a superb job staging the show, but his real triumph is in the constant emotional reality created by his cast. Sibyl Wickersheimer's set consists largely of a black hillside that slopes upward toward the back wall of the theater, an impressive construction that evokes the sense of hills and a blank space for the emotions of this play to take center stage. John Zalewski's sound design subtly (and sometimes bluntly) bolsters the drama, and dialect coach Adele Cabot makes sure the Scottish accents are realistic and not broadly twee mimicry.
Terry Morgan, Variety
Feb. 26, 2007
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117932920.html?categoryid=33&cs=1



Though the entire cast serves Hinkley well, the center of the production is Kate A. Mulligan, who plays Adam’s mother Madeline. Her wails and contortions are of Greek proportion, a Munch scream come to life. Mulligan makes a brave choice in pulling out the stops for this characterization and it will unnerve some. However, she somehow shapes the hysteria and keeps a real person in sight.
Cristofer Gross, Blogcritics.org
April 13, 2007
http://blogcritics.org/culture/article/theater-review-the-women-of-lockerbie/page-2/#ixzz0uzhofQ8t




5. Progress Theatre


Reading, Berkshire, England
May 19 -24, 2008


Director: Christine Moran
Scenery: Aidan Moran
Lighting: Spencer Rodd, Trevor Dale
Sound: Geoff Dallimore




6. LynchPin Productions Theatre Company




The Electric Theatre

June 29, 2010

Guildford, United Kingdom


Director: Jack Lynch
NO DESIGNERS

Who would have thought that a group of actors, dressed in black, sitting in a semi-circle on a bare stage could make an afternoon play reading so dramatic, so riveting and almost unbearably moving? [...] Two factors contributed to this extraordinary achievement. The first was the sheer quality of the writing. [...] The second factor that made this production so powerful was the high quality of the acting. Director Jack Lynch also played the part of Maddy’s long-suffering husband Bill, who has so far been unable to express his own grief. Jack had assembled a strong cast who worked together as a team without any weak link.
Hugh Williams

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7GGLD_en&&sa=X&ei=zq9RTPXXIYG0lQeR36DiBQ&ved=0CBEQBSgA&q=Hugh+Williams+women+of+lockerbie&spell=1

PRODUCING THE PLAY

In producing The Women of Lockerbie, there are many problems that present themselves in the script itself. These problems challenge every production no matter whom, when, or where it is. One of these issues is the stream that is supposed to flow through the stage. The women are supposed to wash the clothes of the victims at the end of the play, and Madeline at one point plays around jumping back and forth of the stream. Whoever is producing the play has to figure out a logistical way to have a stream on stage, whether realistic or not. Another problem people have to face is stylistic aspects of the show. If you are producing the play, you have to completely understand the Greek style, and they also have to mold that ancient style into a modern text that everyone in the audience can relate to. The structure and texture of the piece screams Greek, so in producing this show you have to comprehend Greek style of theatre.
If we were producing this play at the UTC at Sam Houston State University, there are multiple problems that we specifically would have to face. One of these is issues that will have to be addressed is the dialect work. The Scottish accent is naturally very thick and noticeable. The problem with it is, is it’s so thick and noticeable that most audiences (especially at a University level) are not going to understand a word that is coming out of the actor’s mouths. Another issue we would have to face is the idea of age in our department. This show works because these people have gone through so much in their lives that their age helps them know how to push through and live. It is hard for someone to completely understand the life experience that age gets you. So college aged people are not going to be able to give the fully developed performance that a middle-aged or older actor/actress would give.
There are multiple ways to solve the problems that are presented above. The stream should be solved in accordance with the direction that the director wants to take his production. Some productions have literally had a stream running through the set that they built. Other productions that have gone a more artistic and abstract route, have had something like a piece of fabric that the women pulled down from the wall. They then draped the fabric on the floor and then proceeded to wash the clothes in that symbolizing the stream. In addressing the Greek style of the piece, collectively there is only one correct response the problem. You embrace the Greek structure and choral styling and mold that with some form of realism. This will create a show that may not look and feel real, but the emotions and passion is raw and realistic. When discussing the dialect issue, many productions just don’t have the accents because they don’t deem it necessary. Others believe that the accent creates an added difference between the Americans and the Scottish. I believe that it should be a light accent that is not thick; this still creates the added tension but lets the audience understand what’s being said. Also, at the academic level, age is always an issue; however, it creates a learning experience for the young actors.
The critics have overall responded in a positive manner towards the show. There is a mutual agreement that the words at points become very cheesy and overdone. However, most agree with the amount of emotion and power that the piece carries despite the somewhat predictable and melodramatic writing. Most critics have focused on these two aspects more than anything when reviewing productions of this script. Sometimes they mention the set, and what they did with the stream, but it is mostly centered around the writing and the performances.

The World of the Play

MACRO VIEW

1. Bojinka plot - The Bojinka Plot, a Serbo-Croatian word meaning “big noise”, was an intent to plant bombs in 10 commercial flights from South East Asia, Indonesia and the Philippines, to USA and to explode them in the air scheduled to the 01/22/1995. According to the investigation of Abdul Hakim Murad and the evidence in Ramzi Yousef s’ laptop a team of terrorists, among them Abdul Hakim Murad ( code name “Obaid”) and Ramzi Yousef (code name “Zyed”), intended to buy tickets in American airlines companies with a transition landing still in Asia, so there was no need for an American visa. Their intent was to plant the bombs inside life jackets placed under the seats and then to fly to Lahore in Pakistan. The bombs were to be activated by a timer when all 10 aircrafts were in the air.
http://www.globaljihad.net/view_page.asp?id=70

This information is important in understanding the development of terrorism in the world around the characters. They have been affected by a terrorist attack and a situation like this would strike a chord with each character. Since this attack was not actually executed, it gives this lingering feeling in the world that terrorism is very much a part of the world, and is not going away any time soon.

2. Oklahoma City Bombing - On the morning of 19 April 1995, a huge explosion ripped through the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City. Caused by a lethal mixture of diesel fuel and ammonium nitrate packed into a rental truck parked nearby, the blast spread death and destruction throughout a forty‐eight‐square‐block area, overturning automobiles and damaging three hundred buildings. At the time of the explosion, nearly a thousand people were in the Murrah Building, which housed sixteen federal agencies and a day‐care center. The entire north face of the structure collapsed and each of the nine floors received extensive damage. Emergency personnel frantically searched the Murrah Building for survivors. The final human toll numbered 168 killed, including many children, and at least 700 injured.
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O119-OklahomaCityBombing.html

This is a mass killing that was known about all over the world. The Characters, specifically the three Americans, would have been affected by this event in world history. The large amount of deaths reflect the trauma felt in Lockerbie. These characters can relate to the people affected with this bombing. It also keeps that fateful day fresh in your mind.




3. Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty -The United States, the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom signed the treaty, which limits the spread of military nuclear technology by the recognized nuclear-weapon states - U.S., U.S.S.R., U.K., France and China - to non-nuclear nations wishing to build or acquire atomic weapons. Non-weapon states agree not to get nuclear arms and countries with nuclear weapons will negotiate for disarmament. It said countries without nuclear weapons will allow the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency to oversee their nuclear facilities. Countries also should exchange peaceful nuclear technology. It has since been signed by 187 countries and was extended indefinitely in May 1995. India, Pakistan, Israel and Cuba are the only countries that haven't signed on.
http://www.atomicarchive.com/Treaties/Treaty6.shtml

This treaty put control on weaponry that could kill mass amounts of people. The lingering doom of a possible attack of one of these weapons weighs heavily on anyone in the world. This treaty took a little bit of that feeling away. A sense of slight relief should be felt by anybody because of this treaty. This would affect the lives of the characters.




4. Arlington National Cemetery Pan Am Flight 103 Memorial - The Lockerbie Cairn, through its 270 blocks of red Scottish sandstone, memorializes the 270 lives lost in the terrorist attack on the United States when Pan Am flight 103 was bombed Dec. 21, 1988, over Lockerbie Scotland. It is a gift of the people of Scotland to the people of the United States, financed entirely through private donations. The ill-fated flight was enroute from Frankfurt, Germany, to New York via London's Heathrow Airport. Twenty-seven minutes after leaving London, at 7:02 p.m. the plane exploded, raining fragments on the city of Lockerbie, including an entire wing and engines. Eleven of the 270 dead were on the ground. The passengers and crew included people from 22 countries. Among them were 189 Americans, including 15 active-duty military and 10 veterans.Senate Joint Resolution 129 designating Arlington National Cemetery as the site of the Cairn was unanimously passed by Congress and signed into law by President Clinton in November, 1993.The then U.S. President Bill Clinton dedicated a Memorial Cairn to the victims at Arlington National Cemetery on November 3, 1995
http://www.arlingtoncemetery.org/visitor_information/Pan_Am_Memorial.html

Both Madeline and Bill would have visited this memorial. If they went to Lockerbie for a memorial, they would have attended this one, which is much closer to home. This memorial was open to the public just a month before this one in Lockerbie. So there can be a since of Bill knowing that this would happen in Lockerbie, because maybe some similar outburst occurred at this memorial.




5. Nov. 4 Israeli Prime Minister assassinated at peace rally in Tel Aviv -Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated at a peace rally on November 4, 1995 in Tel Aviv's Kings Square, a top aide confirmed. He was reportedly shot in the arm and back by a Jewish man in his mid-20s who is allegedly affiliated with right-wing extremist groups.
http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9511/rabin/

George Jones mentions that most people working for the govt. would rather be working in Tel Aviv rather than Lockerbie. This is one major event that happened there, that would make this location such a hot spot for terrorist activity. This event put Tel Aviv higher in the media and in government relations. This would affect George a great deal.




6. Maltese Double Cross- Though it was never widely distributed, the film, released in 1994, stirred up a great deal of controversy – particularly in the United Kingdom. Reviews of the film in major UK publications were mostly negative, even when acknowledging that it brought to light certain problems in the "official" account of the Lockerbie bombing. The film came in for fierce criticism from some American family members of victims of Pan Am 103, and from the governments of Britain and the United States. Other mainly British family members endorsed the conclusions of the film and, as recently as 2006, Australian journalist and filmmaker John Pilger argued that the Francovich documentary had succeeded in destroying "the official truth that Libya was responsible for the sabotage of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie in 1988.
http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/1901697

This documentary created a lot of stir in the developing story of the bombing of Pan Am 103. It is a definite possibility that these characters know or possibly have seen this documentary. This added a lot of information to the details of what happened on that day. These Scottish women in particular would know and keep up on things like this affected the investigation of the Lockerbie bombing.




7. Libyan Oil Boycott- Frustrated by Libya's refusal to turn over two suspects in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, the Clinton administration said that it will ask the United Nations to impose a worldwide oil boycott against what the United States has called an outlaw nation.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/panam103/stories/libya032895.htm

Another factor in the relations surrounding the Lockerbie bombing. The characters would very well know about this oil boycott, and would support it completely. This affects relations between countries and forces more information to be revealed about the events surrounding the bombing, including the people involve.




8. 19 million dollar award to pan am victim's wife-Faith Pescatore -- a physician's assistant who lives in the Cleveland area -- charged that Pan Am and its security firm were warned of a possible terrorist attack but took no extra precautions. A bomb, hidden in a radio-cassette player and packed in a suitcase, was believed to have been put aboard the plane by Libyan terrorists. Arrest warrants have been issued for two suspects, but Libya has refused to turn them over. In 1992, a federal jury ruled that the airline was at fault for repeatedly ignoring warnings that its baggage-security system was inadequate. The jury awarded three families a total of nearly $20 million in that lawsuit.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/panam103/stories/jury041995.htm

This affects the families of the victims, so Madeline Bill and Olive. This is a big deal for these families because its a acknowledgment of their loss and that the airline itself messed up in their security in this issue. This creates a sense of hope for the families about the future involving the trials and investigations.




9. FBI releases reward for Libyan Terrorists- The FBI yesterday announced a $4 million reward for two Libyan intelligence officers charged with the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and said it planned a worldwide information blitz seeking help in bringing them to justice. The bureau also placed the pair, believed to be in Libya, on its 10 Most Wanted List. Seeking to rekindle international interest in the bombing, the FBI and State Department said they will work with the U.S. Information Agency to communicate with persons in Libya who might assist in bringing the suspects to court. As part of the campaign, for the first time ever, U.S. law enforcement and diplomatic officials placed information about the fugitives on the Internet computer network.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/panam103/stories/reward032495.htm

This is a step further in the investigation of the men responsible for the attack. All of these characters would be very aware of this reward, and would watch very closely on the outcome of it. Each step closer to finding the men who did this, means that the people affected by this attack will feel some sense of justice for what was done.




10. World Trade Center Bombing- On Feb. 26, 1998 a suspected car bomb has exploded underneath the World Trade Center in New York killing at least five people and injuring scores more. The bombing has shocked America which had seemed immune from acts of terrorism that have plagued other parts of the world. An emotional Mario Cuomo, New York's state governor, told journalists: "We all have that feeling of being violated. No foreign people or force has ever done this to us. Until now we were invulnerable." The immense blast happened at 1218 local time in the Secret Service's section of the car park underneath and between what are New York's tallest buildings.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/26/newsid_2516000/2516469.stm

This terrorist attack was a big event in the history of terrorism. It keeps the sense of fear in everyones minds. At any moment something like this can happen, and for the most part there is no way of stopping it. This fear is very evident in the minds of these characters. And this incident just fuels that fear in their lives.




MICRO VIEW


1. M74-The M74 and A74(M) are motorways in southern Scotland, the latter being a southward continuation of the former. Considered together, they run from Glasgow to a point just south of the English border near Gretna, where they meet the M6. They form the only substantially-D3M long-distance rural motorway in Scotland. M74 runs through Lockerbie and was built there in 1995.
http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/index.php?title=M74_and_A74(M)

This road being added into the town of Lockerbie, means that more people are going to be driving and stopping into this town. The addition of this road takes away some of the solitude of the town. Its a very small, close knit town and this road being built there slightly disrupts the way these citizens live their lives.




2. Scotland RAF Chinook crash- On 2nd June 1994 a Royal Air Force Chinook helicopter crashed on the Mull of Kintyre, killing all 29 people on board. Despite having no eyewitnesses and three separate inquiries proving inconclusive, the RAF found the two pilots Flt Lts Jon Tapper and Rick Cook wholly accountable for the tragedy, with a charge of Gross Negligence.
http://www.democracyforum.co.uk/ukip/20645-raf-chinook-crash-1994-a.html

This event is very close to home to the people of Lockerbie, Scotland. They were hit once with a devastating plane crash and this crash just keeps Pan Am 103 in their heads. It reminds them of the horrid things they saw that day. Also, the impact of this crash is heavier on them because it occured in their own very small country.




3. Lockerbie Academy- The origins of Lockerbie Academy go back to the nineteenth century, and the Education (Scotland) Act of 1872 which led to the formation of Dryfesdale School Board.The name Lockerbie Academy was first applied to what was formerly Dryfesdale Public School in 1903, although the original building facing Townhead Street had been established as a school in October 1875. In 1919 the school came under control of the new County Education Authority and was firmly established as a five-year secondary school. In 1930, however, because of the centralisation of upper secondary education in Dumfries, the Academy lost its fourth and fifth year pupils to Dumfries Academy. Work on phase one of the new secondary was started in 1957 and in 1962 Lockerbie Academy became a four-year secondary school for Ordinary Grade courses. It achieved six-year status in 1964. An extensive refurbishment programme began in 1989 extending over three years, which resulted in a rationalisation of the present accommodation.The school continues to be at the forefront of education.
http://www.theloop.org.uk/lockerbie-academy/concise-guide/history/

Lockerbie academy is a center point in the town. This academy adds jobs to the town, people to the town, and puts the town on the map, so to say. A lot of what goes on in Lockerbie often pertains to this academy. It is a large part of the society they live in and affects their everyday lives.




4. Pastoral Farming Community- Pastoral farming is the looking after of animals, until the family decides to sell the animal's meat, urine, milk, and waste products. Here are some example of the types of animals that would be involved in pastoral fishing and what the farmer would sell from this animal; cattle (for urine, cheese and milk), hoes or Bunny's (for meat and eggs), sheep (for meat and wool) and many other different types of animals. For the farmer to benefit from this type of killing the physical influence such as the weather, there must be a lot rain so the condition of the blade is good to kill the animals, the land can be flat or hilly and there need to be enough land for the animals to be fattened up in different slaughter houses.
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_pastoral_farming

This aspect of the town shows how these people live their lives. This is the main function and jobs of Lockerbie, and nearly everyone in town is involved with this style of farming. A farming community works differently than and urban society. The people are closer to each other and relationships are very tight. The people in this town are a community and they function together and this is mostly because of the farming society they live in.




5. Women in Scottish Society-By the the 1990s, as Scotland headed towards the millennium, women became the majority of the Scottish workforce. Much of this work was still on a part-time basis and the female wage was still lower on average than the male wage, but this rate of change in such a short period of time is truly staggering.All this has had major effects on gender relations in Scotland, and men have had to adapt to the new situation as well as women. Women are no longer dependent on male wages, and often the opposite situation is the case. They now have a choice in family planning and have better provision in childcare. The stigma attached to working mothers is no longer valid in the economy. Education and training must now be made available on an equal basis, by law. Finally, political representation for women steadily increased, and in 1999 the creation of the new Scottish Parliament saw 49 women win seats, making up 37% of all MSPs.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/scottishhistory/modern/features_modern_women2.shtml

This greatly affects the women in Lockerbie. They are now a prominent part of the society they live in. They are getting power and confidence in them. This is clearly seen in the Laundry Project that surrounds the plot of this play. The women are in charge and are controlling the action in the town and their lives.

6. History of Family Feuding-The feud between the Maxwells and the Johnstones was one of the most bitter in the history of Scotland. In the second half of the 16th century, the heads of both families were at different times Wardens of the West Marches, each holding the office several times. Often the appointment came after a period of rebellious activity such as the weakness of the government of King James VI. The Maxwells, whose leader lived in Caerlaverock Castle, were more powerful than the Johnstones, whose chief was usually based at Lochwood Tower, near what is now Johnstone bridge.
http://www.dryfesdalelodge.org.uk/resources/thebattleofdryfesands.pdf

This history of feuding feeds in the blood of the people in the town. This feuding is reflecting in Madeline and Olive in the play and the differences they go through. This history is in these peoples history and created who they are as a community, and their town as a whole. This would also be well known to the people in the town.

7. Winter Solstice- Orkney is an archipelago of some seventy islands off the north coast of Scotland. For many centuries it was a Norse colony, only coming under the jurisdiction of the Scottish crown in 1468. Even today the indigenous folk express their independent spirit by claiming direct Viking descent. But habitation of the islands pre-dates these seafaring warriors not by centuries but by millennia. There are settlements, tombs and ring circles that pre-date the pyramids. Not just a handful either. At the last count there were 2993 Neolithic sites on Orkney which works out at roughly eight per square mile. And within the area of most concentrated splendours, West Mainland – which was granted World Heritage Site status in 2000 – is a cairn or chambered tomb called Maeshowe that catches the last rays of the dying sun each winter solstice.Every year, on the 21st December, the shafts of the shortest day's afternoon sun enter a narrow passageway and illuminate the inside chamber for about twenty minutes. This remarkable event draws onlookers year after year from far afield and for those with a 'remote' interest there's a webcam trained on the cairn. Such mathematical and architectural precision is astounding. Ritualistically it's as if that ancient, unknown culture wanted to mark the passing of the year whilst psychologically capturing a little of the sun's warmth for the dark days ahead.
http://www.scotland.org/about/history-tradition-and-roots/features/culture/orkney.html

This reflects on the events going on in this particular play. All of these actions take place during the winter solstice. These women, in the play, know about this and would understand its history and how they celebrate it in their culture. They also are aware of its "powers" in a supernatural sense. The solstice is a thought that is in the women's heads in this script.




8. Winter in Scotland- Winter in Scotland is often not as cold as you might expect given the latitude of the country. The Gulf Stream keeps the weather a lot warmer than you might find in Russia or Canada at equivalent latitudes. Daytime temperatures in winter can vary from around -2degC to 10degC although very occasionally it gets colder. Night times are often frosty and temperatures of -5degC are frequent. On the mountains, snow can occur at any time through the winter, though at lower elevations, it tends to be rain more than snow. We do get snow occasionally, but roads departments are well equipped to handle it and get most routes open quicly after a snowstorm. Long nights and short days are a particular feature of winter.
http://www.holidayscotland.org.uk/articles-scotland-weather.htm

This greatly affects the clothes being worn by the characters, how they move, and what their surroundings look and feel like. Knowing this will help not only the director and actors in their blocking and character development, but it is also good knowledge for each designer to be aware of when creating their designs.

9. Population- Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland, the traditionally troublesome northern part of the United Kingdom, and now home to a reasonably new Scottish Parliament. 600,000 of Scotland's 5 million or so inhabitants live here and to generalise it is the home of Scottish 'old money', whereas Glasgow, around 70 miles away, is the larger, glitzier and more fast-paced upstart rival.
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/technotrekker/overland05/1161267420/tpod.html

This is apart of the society that these Scottish people are involved with. Lockerbie is one of the smallest towns of Scotland with a population around 4000. This creates a closeness between the people who live in the town. Everyone nearly knows everyone, and this creates a community that resembles a family.

10. Lost History due to the Romans -Roman forts, and fortlets, also dot the countryside around Lockerbie. Most notable is Birrens, or Blatobulgium in Latin, a marching fort dating to 80 A.D. and the first Roman incursion into Scotland. The turbulent times following the Roman occupations cost Scotland much of its written history. Endless conflicts between the earthy Scots and their imperial British neighbors saw historical records destroyed as churches, abbeys, and chapels fell to conquering armies who cared little about the past. What remained were the stories passed down between generations, coupled with archaeological investigations into sites long covered by barley fields and grazing land. The story of Lockerbie, or whatever it was then called, is an amalgam of what is known and unknown, with the blanks filled with supposition, research, and, in the words of a noted town historian, "a bit of guesswork."
http://www.sunjournal.com/node/256251

The people of Lockerbie don't even know a good chunk of their history due to the Romans. This creates an emptiness in the lives of these people. They somewhat do not know what happened on the land they live in and this is not a fulfilling way to live. There will always be a mystery about their beloved town.




SOUNDS AND IMAGES

Image Slideshow







STATEMENT - THE WORLD OF THE PLAY

The setting and time of The Women of Lockerbie is very specific. Deborah Brevoort tells us that the day is December 21, 1995, which is the seven year anniversary of the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 killing 270 people. She says the place is “the rolling green hills of Lockerbie, Scotland, where Pan Am Flight 103 crashed” and “there is a stream running through the hills”. It is also the night of the winter solstice. This is when the earth is farthest away from the sun. It is considered the darkest time of the year, and most cultures get together to give some comforting feeling in this dark time.

Lockerbie, Scotland is a pastoral farming community located near the border of Scotland and England in the United Kingdom. The population is roughly 4000. Due to two major highways, M74 and A74, running through the town, Lockerbie is an active travel town even though its size. The M74 was built in Lockerbie in 1995, so this new highway and more people traveling through is still very fresh to the people of Lockerbie in this play. Because it is a pastoral farming community, a good deal of the business that takes place here is based around raising and selling livestock. Since Lockerbie is located so close to the border of England, a lot of trading happens between the two peoples.

In early history, the Romans had forts all around the United Kingdom and one of those places was in Lockerbie. This was one of the main military stations for the Roman army. When the Romans left Lockerbie, they destroyed nearly everything in the town including the documented history of Lockerbie. So nearly all documented history of Lockerbie, from that moment and prior, was lost. This leaves a vague feeling in the town’s history. There is still a small mystery as to who these people are and where they came from.

Lockerbie is known for few things, one of those things is the Lockerbie Academy. The Lockerbie Academy is the public high school of the town. Lockerbie Academy and Syracuse University have been in cooperation since the bombing of Pan Am 103. Every year two students from Lockerbie Academy go to Syracuse to spend one year studying. This co-op was created in honor of the 35 students who were lost in the terrorist attack on Pan Am 103. This creates a connection between the people of Lockerbie and Syracuse that will last for many years to come, and give a good education to these students.

Sadly, what Lockerbie will always be known for is the attack that occurred there on December 21, 1988. People will always remember that Lockerbie is where the events of that fateful day happened. Not only does the world remember Lockerbie this way, but the people of the town live in that remembrance every day. Out of the 270 people who died in that bombing, 11 were actual Lockerbie citizens that were killed by debris and pieces of the plane falling onto their land and homes. The day will forever live on in their minds. No matter how long or what good things happen in the town, nothing will ever cast a shadow on the impact that day had on their entire lives.

Terrorist attacks create an air that lingers in everyone's minds across the globe as something that is dangerous and can happen at nearly any moment without notice. They can change the very way people live and associate with other countries and people. There is a sense of fear that an attack could happen at any minute and kill yourself and/or the people you love. The people of Lockerbie experienced one of these attacks first hand and now they sit back and see it happening to other people all over the globe. They see bombings, like in Tel Aviv and Oklahoma City, and wonder to themselves if that will ever happen to them again. Seeing these things also keeps the day that their lives completely changed fresh in their minds. They have to relive the bodies, the fire, the blood, and the destruction that they witnessed that day. Terrorist attacks affect everyone in different ways, and they certainly weigh into the lives of the people in Lockerbie, Scotland.

The Facts of the Play

The Women of Lockerbie

Author: Deborah Brevoort

Language: English

Play Structure: Prologue, 4 Choral Odes, 7 Episodes, 4 Dialogues

Cast Breakdown: 2M, 5W

Approximate Running Time: 80 Minutes

Genre Identification: Poetic Drama (Dramatist's Play Services)

Brief Author Bio: Deborah Brevoort is a playwright and musical theatre librettist/lyricist from Alaska who now lives in the New York City area. She is an alumna of New Dramatists. She is best known for The Women of Lockerbie, which won the Kennedy Center’s Fund for New American Plays Award and the silver medal in the Onassis International Playwriting Competition. She holds an MFA in Playwriting from Brown University and an MFA in Musical Theatre writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where she currently teaches. She also teaches in the MFA playwriting programs at Columbia University and Goddard College. She is a co-founder of Theatre Without Borders with Roberta Levitow, Catherine Filloux and Erik Ehn.

http://www.deborahbrevoort.com/about/

Published by: Dramatists Play Services Price: $7.50

Licensing and Rights: Dramatists Play Services $75 per performance



EXEGESIS

Winter Solstice (pg. 25) - The Winter Solstice occurs exactly when the Earth's axial tilt is farthest away from the sun. Even in modern cultures these gatherings are still valued for emotional comfort, having something to look forward to at the darkest time of the year. This is especially the case for populations in the near polar regions of the hemisphere. The depressive psychological effects of winter on individuals and societies are experienced as coldness, tiredness, malaise, and inactivity. This is known as seasonal affective disorder.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_solstice


Scotland yard (pg. 20) - Neither in Scotland, nor in a yard, it is the name of the headquarters of London's Metropolitan Police and, by association, has become synonymous with the force. The Yard doesn't serve the city either, but instead the Greater London area. The London police force was created in 1829 by an act introduced in Parliament by Home Secretary (similar to the U.S. Secretary of the Interior) Sir Robert Peel—hence the nickname "bobbies," for policeman.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/world-history/10112406.html





Stone Wall (pg. 24) - the memorial to the Pam Am flight disaster located in Dryfesdale Cemetery. (Picture to the Right)
http://homepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~scottish/indexdryfecem.html



Ted Koppel (pg. 29) - Television journalist, perhaps Koppel is best known as the presenter of Nightline, the distinguished ABC late-night news show which started its run during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis (originally called America Held Hostage). The nightly news program ran for 25 years with Koppel as its chief anchor.
http://www.biography.com/articles/Ted-Koppel-9368366



Ode (pgs. 32, 38, 50, 103) - At the end of each episode, the other characters usually leave the stage and the chorus dances and sings a stasimon, or choral ode. The ode usually reflects on the things said and done in the episodes, and puts it into some kind of larger mythological framework.
http://academic.reed.edu/humanities/110tech/Theater.html



Solway Firth (pg. 38) - An arm of the Irish Sea separating northwest England from southwest Scotland.
Hadrian's Wall terminates on its southern shore.
http://www.answers.com/topic/solway-firth



Dumfries (pg. 38) - is a market town and former royal burgh within the Dumfries and Galloway council area of Scotland and is situated close to the Solway Firth, near the mouth of the River Nith. Dumfries was the county town of the former county of Dumfriesshire. People from Dumfries are known colloquially as Doonhamers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dumfries



Annan River (pg. 38) - is a river in southwest Scotland. It rises at the foot of Hart Fell, five miles north of Moffat. It flows past the town of Lockerbie, and to the sea in the fishing town of Annan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Annan



Kinnel (pg. 38) - Kinnell is a parish in Angus.
http://uk.epodunk.com/profiles/scotland/kinnell/3014524.html



Moffat (pg. 38) - is a former burgh and spa town in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, lying on the River Annan, with a population of around 2,500.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moffat



Episode (pgs. 21, 40, 44, 55, 69, 82, 97) - Scene or section of a play with dialogue. An episode may be compared with acts or scenes in a Shakespeare play. Episodes come between the odes sung by the chorus.
http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/terms.html


Agon (pg. 52) - In Ancient Greek drama, particularly old comedy (fifth century B.C.), agon refers to the formal convention according to which the struggle between the characters should be scripted in order to supply the basis of the action. Agon is a formal debate which takes place between the chief characters in a Greek play, protagonist and antagonist, usually with the chorus acting as judge. The character who speaks second always wins the agon, since the last word is always hers or his. The meaning of the term has escaped the circumscriptions of its classical origins to signify, more generally, the conflict on which a literary work turns.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agon


"Siberia of the State Department" (pg. 63) - A remote undesirable locale
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/Siberia


Kuwait (pg. 63) - The State of Kuwait is a sovereign Arab emirate situated in the northeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the south and Iraq to the north and lies on the northwestern shore of the Persian Gulf.During the Iraqi occupation, about 1,000 Kuwaiti civilians were killed and more than 300,000 residents fled the country. After a series of failed diplomatic negotiations, the United States-led coalition of thirty-four nations fought the Persian Gulf War to remove the Iraqi forces from Kuwait.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuwait


Tel Aviv (pg. 63) - the second-largest city in Israel, with an estimated population of 393,900. The city is situated on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline. In the first Gulf War, in 1991, Tel Aviv was attacked and hit by several Scud rockets from Iraq, but there were few casualties and no fatalities.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tel_Aviv


George Steinbrenner (pg. 66) - Long running manager of the New York Yankees. George Steinbrenner was born on Friday, July 4, 1930, and began his Major League baseball executive position on January 3, 1973, with the New York Yankees. The 42 year-old businessman had just purchased the Bronx Bombers from CBS for $10 million and changes were about to take place. Died July 13, 2010 at the age of 80.
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/articles/george_steinbrenner_biography.shtml

Fable

In December of 1988, American Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed over Lockerbie, Scotland by a Libyan man resulting in the death of nearly 270 people. It is now December 1995, seven year anniversary of the attack. In Lockerbie, Scotland they are holding a memorial service for the people who perished on that day. Families of the deceased have come to Lockerbie to join in this service. One of these families is Bill and Madeline Livingston, parents of Adam Livingston (who died in the crash). Madeline has been living in a constant state of mourning and grief since the death of her son and is slowly but surely loosing her mind. Bill is doing all he can at this point to hold his marriage together and keep the memory of his son, a happy one. At the service when they were reading off the names of the deceased, Madeline ran out and starting roaming the hills to find her son’s remains, which were never found. Bill, with the help of three Scottish Women, Olive Allison and Woman 1 & 2, are going through the hills late at night looking for Madeline. Bill tells these women that Madeline has been acting this way for a long time. She never gets off the couch, and all she does is cry all day long. The Women try and talk to Madeline, after they run into her. Madeline tells them the story of when she found out about Adam’s death. She was baking a pie and watching “All My Children” when Ted Koppel came on the air to announce the crash. She gets upset and runs off again. Olive and the Women then tell Bill what happened to them on the day of the crash. One was baking a pie (like Madeline), one was walking the dog, and one was going to the petrol station. They saw the fire in the sky, the plane crash to the earth around them, the clothes and mail falling, and they saw all of the bodies. One of the Women saw 71 bodies still strapped to their seats in her living room. Bill acknowledges that he did not know this affected them so much. They then tell him about Lockerbie and how stuff like this bombing just does not happen in Lockerbie. We find out about the grief that Bill feels inside, but rarely shows because he is always taking care of Madeline. He recalls having to return all of Adam’s Christmas presents and not having a reason to tell the clerks why he was returning them. The women and Bill continue to look for Madeline. Now we meet Hattie, a Scottish cleaning lady, and George Jones, an American Government official who works at the warehouse where all the remains of the crash are being stored (most importantly the clothes of the victims). Hattie works for George. The Scottish Women are involved in the Laundry Project which involves getting these clothes and washing them so they can return to the families. Hattie is kind of an undercover agent for this Project. George does not want to release the clothes to the women, and Olive (the leader of the Laundry Project) does not like him because of this particular reason. Hattie leaves and Bill comes on and meets George. George says that he does not like the mothers because they are so emotionally overwhelming and wont leave him alone. Bill starts to show him stuff of Adam’s to show its not just the mother’s who were affected. Olive enters and tells George that she will get the clothes. George gets irritated with her and goes back to the warehouse to confront the media (that the Scottish women called) that is there. Olive runs into Madeline again with Bill and Woman 1 & 2 there as well. Madeline says that Olive has no idea how it feels and to leave her alone. Olive tells that she lost her husband and child in the crash as well. She also says how much she hates Americans because it was their plane that killed her family. The women then begin to fight, and must be pulled apart by the other women and Bill. Olive and the women tell Madeline about the Laundry Project and Madeline wants to be involved. Madeline and Olive go with Hattie to the warehouse to get the clothes while Woman 1 & 2 wait with Bill. Hattie comes a little after this to tell that they got into the warehouse and got the clothes, but Madeline could not find anything of Adam’s and started to go crazy. Tearing at her clothes, scratching herself, and tearing up the entire warehouse. Madeline then comes with her clothes torn and blood on her. Olive comes on with the bags of clothes. Madeline claims how she has nothing left of her son. Then George comes and gives a suitcase to Madeline and Bill saying it was Adam’s and it was untouched in the crash. Madeline has a moment of clarity and lets Bill go through the suitcase. George says he has to go give a statement to the press. Olive tells him to say “Hatred will not have the last word in Lockerbie.” He agrees and leaves. The women then decide to wash the clothes, but Olive is hesitant and says that she can’t do it. Madeline, in a moment of purity and maturity, takes the clothes out of the bags hands it to the women and is the first one to start washing. The other women eventually follow her lead. Then as they wash the sun begins to rise on a new day.

Plot Summary

December 21, 1988. A Pan Am plane, carrying 259 passengers, explodes on the Scottish sky, falling on the city of Lockerbie and killing 11 people on the ground. The terrorist attack will keep US authorities busy for many years, trying to find the responsible killers. December 21, 1995. Madeline and Bill Livingston, the devastated parents of a Syracuse student killed in the crash, return to Lockerbie, hoping to find some closure in their difficult mourning process. Torn by grief, Madeline immediately disappears in the Scottish countryside. She obsessively investigates the hills where the plane crashed, hoping to find some remains of her son. Her husband’s rational approach at explaining that she won’t be able to find anything, as their son was sitting in the compartment where the bomb exploded, does not help her in anyway. Their relationship crumbles under the pressure of this difficult task: Madeline, unable to let go of her sorrow, questions Bill’s affection for her son and his very ability to mourn. In the meantime, Bill bonds with a group of local women, who have organized a vigil to commemorate the event. The women are desperately trying to recover the passengers’ clothes that have been sealed in evidence bags for seven years. The Scottish women, who witnessed the crash and lost their loved ones, need to complete their own grieving process, but George Jones, a representative of the US government, is completely unwilling to help them. He will not release the clothes. They try everything, begging, pleading, demanding, as they have decided to wash every piece of clothing and return it to the families, but to no avail. One of the women, Hattie, who has been working for Mr. Jones, suggests simply taking the clothes. She will open the gates of the compound where they are kept, and two hundred women will retrieve the clothes from the Shelves of Sorrow. While some women head to the compound, Bill and Olive, one of the leaders, keep close watch on Madeline. When conflict erupts between Bill and Madeline yet again, Olive intervenes. We discover that Olive carries inside her own unspoken drama, as she lost her husband and her daughter in the tragedy. She suddenly launches herself against Madeline, releasing her anger towards Americans, who, in her words, have caused this. Lockerbie was just revenge on a US bombing of Iran. The returning women, who share the news of their failed enterprise, stop Olive. They were not able to retrieve the clothes. Hearing the news, Madeline runs to the Shelves of Sorrow, desperately wanting to find some item belonging to her son. Olive also heads for the compound. Disheartened, Bill is about to leave, but the women convince him to keep them company. As they share their horrific view of the Shelves of Sorrow, Hattie brings the news. Following faithfully a Greek tragedy structure, the writer makes Hattie relate to the character and the audience the outcome of the enterprise, that is the climax of the story. The truck drivers who were supposed to incinerate the clothes refused to move. Mr. Jones, seeing the 200 women standing there, let them in, and they were able to recover all the clothes. Madeline started searching everywhere, but couldn’t find anything belonging to her son. She started scratching all over her body. She madly scratched her arms, breast and chest. Madeline, a living wound, shows up. This, she says, will be a temple dedicated to her son’s death. The women urge her to wash with them, to ‘wash away her pain’. Mr. Jones shows up with the bag her son packed for the trip. Madeline and Bill rush to open it. It’s a strange, joyful moment, with enormous release. Bill is able to finally grieve, and the couple reconcile. Madeline joins the women and, together, they complete their mission: they can finally wash the clothes.

www.theactorsgang.com/pdf/lockerbie_study_guide.pdf

Characters

Madeline Livingston (W) - a middle aged housewife from New Jersey. Her son, Adam, perished in the bombing of Pan Am 103. She is roaming the hills of Lockerbie, Scotland looking for his body.

Bill Livingston (M) - Madeline's husband and father of Adam. Middle-aged and struggling to hold his marriage together because of his wife's overbearing grief.

Olive Allison (W) - Lockerbie woman in her forties. She is the leader of the Laundry Project. Tries to help the grief of everyone, forgetting to see her own grief.

Woman 1 and 2 - Lockerbie women in their 40-50s. Assisting Olive in the Laundry Project.

Hattie (W) - Lockerbie woman in her 50-60s. She is a cleaning lady and assists Olive in the Laundry Project.

George Jones (M) - American Government representative in his forties. He is in charge of the warehouse where the remains from the bombing of Pan Am 103 are kept.

Characters and Casting

The casting of The Women of Lockerbie is open for some choices to be made, however, the sex and age of the characters can not change. Race does not play a role in the plot of this piece. There are three Americans and 4 Scottish women, but this does not dictate the color of their skin. Each of these characters could be any race. Age is one aspect of casting that should be cast according to the age in the character descriptions, unless you are in a place where you can only obtain actors of a certain age like academia. These characters are a certain age for a reason. They are old enough to have families of their own, and to experience the world around them. Age definitely plays into the wisdom and wit of the Scottish Women. The fact that they have gone through so much life, is why and how they can react and respond to the situations that they are put into. If you take away that age then the choices that they make do not make since. This is the same for the Americans. Bill and Madeline have to be old enough to be able to have a son in their twenties die seven years before the action of this play. This show should be cast according to the age that they are written for. The gender of these characters is the most crucial part of this play. If you change the gender of the character then the purpose in the whole script is not there. The show is called The Women of Lockerbie, therefore it focuses on the women of this town, NOT THE MEN. There have been some productions were some of the women of Lockerbie were played by men as men. This takes away the motherly, nurturing aspect of these women. They are independent and powerful women, and that adds to the impact of the piece as a whole. Casting men jeopardizes the power of the piece. Therefore, the gender of the characters can not be changed in any way. This goes for the Americans as well. Madeline obviously has to be the woman and mother in the relationship with Bill as the father. George also has to be a man because he has a scene with Bill about how he can not stand the mothers. He is somewhat anti-woman and their emotional power in the situation. So, therefore, none of these character’s genders should be changed at all. On the other hand, actors and/or actresses of any sexual orientation and actor/actresses with disabilities should not be ruled out in the casting of this production. There is nothing with this script that should not employ non-traditional casting in this since. Overall, non-traditional casting does work in some aspects, and does not work in others. When it comes to age and/or gender of the actors and characters, there is no leeway with what we were given by Deborah Brevoort. However when regarding race, sexual orientation and/or actors with disabilities, non-traditional casting can be employed with this script.

Definitions of Dramaturgy

Three Definitions of Dramaturgy:


1. Dramaturgy is a branch of the theatrical arts which involves bringing productions to life on the stage. - WiseGeek


2. Dramaturgy is the art or technique of dramatic composition and theatrical representation. - Merriam-Webster


3. Dramaturgy is a "treatment of time and space, the configuration of characters in the dramatic universe, the sequential organization of the episodes of the Story. . . . action, story, fable, catastrophy, rules, unities, etc." - Patrice Pavis in Languages of the Stage

Picture Above: Portrait of Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, a German man who is mostly considered for being the first modern, dramatic dramturg.