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.
