Tryst will perform The Lockerbie Bomber in the Alman Theatre [Alloa] on January 17-19.
The bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie killed 270 people and was the worst terrorist atrocity in the UK. Now, for the first time, the horrific tragedy is brought to the stage in this new work which lifts the veil of secrecy thrown over the bombing by successive Governments and security services.
The harrowing play, which is dedicated to the memory of the victims of Lockerbie and their families, is set in the present day and looks at the bombing from three different perspectives – the victims’ families, journalists investigating the case and the UK and US security services engaged in covering up what happened. It links Grangemouth, Greenock, Glasgow and Guantanamo Bay in the gritty and fast-moving 75-minute piece.
The play was specially written for Tryst and its six actors Jim Allan, Alan Clark, Carol Clark, Rhona Law, Craig Murray and Brian Paterson.
Director Alan Clark said: “Almost twenty-four years to the day, Lockerbie still looms large over Scotland and there are still unanswered questions over what happened that December night and who is ultimately responsible for two hundred and seventy murders. As one of the characters says: “A few people, high up in the US and UK Governments, know exactly what happened, but they’re never going to tell us.”"
Writer Kenneth N. Ross said: “I wrote the play, my first, as a reminder that the 270 victims and their families still await justice. The more I researched and delved, the clearer it became that Scottish justice and successive Governments have failed them terribly. Like all Scots, I was appalled by Lockerbie. And like a lot of Scots, I personally believe there’s been a miscarriage of justice and a cover-up.”
And he added: “It has scenes which will shock and disturb but compared to the horrors that happened at Lockerbie that night, it’s nothing.”
The play has been seen and welcomed by members of the Justice for Megrahi group. Founded in November 2008, the high-profile campaign maintains that the conviction of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi for the Lockerbie bombing was a miscarriage of justice and its main objective is to have Mr al-Megrahi’s conviction quashed.
One of its members is retired Police Superintendent Iain McKie who was at the premiere. “This is a challenging and thought-provoking play that brings the human suffering and political chicanery behind the tragedy of Lockerbie to vivid and dramatic life. It should be required viewing for every Scot as a reminder of a disaster that has become an indelible stain on the reputation of Scotland and its justice system."
The Lockerbie Bomber is on at the Alman Theatre [Alloa] on January 17-19 at 8pm. Tickets, £10, are available form the Alman Box Office on 07929 561 331.
[A review by Vronsky of the first performance of this play can be read here.]
I saw this play at Stirling in the summer, and I was enormously impressed by the professional standards of the work. I have never before in my life seen acting of that calibre from amateur performers.
ReplyDeleteThe play is most certainly not a documentary. The main dramatic action is entirely invented, and the play goes considerably further than can be objectively substantiated in suggesting a criminal conspiracy on the part of the authorities. Nevertheless it is an extremely powerful drama and well worth seeing for its own sake even by those not especially well-versed in the Lockerbie affair.
"the play goes considerably further than can be objectively substantiated in suggesting a criminal conspiracy on the part of the authorities."
ReplyDeleteThe play (allowing some dramatic licence) is very considerably more objective than the official 'narrative'. Evidence, I think this stuff is called.