Formidable Cast of The Women of Lockerbie Gives Sensitive Portrayal of Grief and Remembrance

by Gerry Roe

Iowa City - To begin their season of plays by women, Dreamwell Theatre has chosen The Women of Lockerbie, by Deborah Brevoort, based on the bombing of PanAm Flight 103 in which 270 people died—including all the passengers (most of them Americans), the crew, and 11 people on the ground. Brevoort has written that she set out to write the play, set on the seventh anniversary of the disaster, in the form of Greek tragedy. Dreamwell’s production captures the spirit of Greek tragedy in an extremely moving and cathartic evening of theatre.

Director Rachael Lindhart was drawn to this play not only because it was written by a woman playwright but because she welcomed the challenge and the rewards inherent in the structure and characterizations of the play. She has assembled a formidable cast to bring this play to the stage. Seven years after losing a son in the crash, Madeline Livingston, a New Jersey housewife played with dignity and with passion by Theresa Meeks-Mosley, has come to Lockerbie to search for some remnant of her son. She is accompanied by her husband, Bill (Rip Russell), who has struggled for seven years with Madeline’s obsessive grief, making his own grief inaccessible. The two actors work well together, presenting a convincing picture of a devoted couple torn apart by their separate reactions to incomprehensible loss. Russell gives us a memorably dynamic portrait of frustration and fear that loss of his son will be compounded by the collapse of his marriage.

A feature of Greek tragedy is a chorus reflecting on the protagonists’ actions and reactions. Paula Grady as Olive Allison admirably serves as the leader of the chorus of women as they try to assist Madeline and Bill even as they recall their own direct experience of the shattered airplane and a sky full of falling bodies and body parts. Other chorus members, Mary Jane Myers as Woman 1 and Tracy Schoenle as Woman 2, make strong contributions with their recollections and representations of the Lockerbie women. The women have set a goal of returning to family members the clothes or other personal items belonging to the victims retrieved from the hills after the crash. They are frustrated in this attempt by George Jones (Stephen Ivester), the American in charge of such items, who believes that policy disallows their wishes. He is determined to destroy the hundreds of garments and relics collected in the aftermath of the crash. Together with Hattie (Jen Brown), his office cleaning woman, he shares a comic scene that breaks, momentarily, the tension of the script at the same time as it reveals something of the nature of each character. Ivester and Brown play off each other with gusto and conviction. Their comic interlude provides a welcome relief for the audience even as it captures the essential conflicts between strict adherence to policy and generosity of spirit.

Rachael Lindhart’s sensitive direction of her talented cast has been aided by Movement Director Christina Patramanis and Dialect Coach Brett Myers. Together with the actors, they have prepared an evening of theatre to linger in the mind of anyone who sees it—and I urge you to make this play a part of your theatrical memory.

The Women of Lockerbie runs for three more performances: Sep 15, 21, and 22, 7:30 p.m. at the Unitarian Universalist Society in Iowa City. Tickets are $13 ($10 students/seniors). Reservations can be made at www.dreamwell.com/ or by calling 319-423-9820.

Women of Lockerbie Opens September 14

Iowa City - Dreamwell's season of women's words will open in September with a play by Deborah Brevoort, The Women of Lockerbie, directed by Rachael Lindhart Sept. 14, 15, 21, and 22, 7:30pm at the Unitarian Universalist Society, 10 S. Gilbert St. Iowa City, IA. Reservations at www.dreamwell.com or 319-423-9820. $13 regular, $10 students and seniors.

The setting is the hills around Lockerbie, Scotland, where Pan Am flight 103 crashed on December 21, 1988. The play takes place on the 7-year anniversary of the crash and concerns the efforts of a group of Lockerbie women to gain permission and access to the clothes of those killed in order to wash them and return them to the victims' families. The women are joined by the parents of a crash victim who are looking for healing by visiting and seeking signs of their son at the crash site. The efforts of the women are impeded by the American government representative in charge of the warehouse storing the remains from the crash, a man who is anxious to wind up the 7-year long investigation into the crash. The play is modeled on Greek drama and epic in form, in spite of its contemporary events and people. It is a drama that examines how (and whether) people heal after a tragedy of great magnitude.

Auditions for The Women of Lockerbie

Iowa City - Dreamwell is looking for mature actors for this September's production of The Women of Lockerbie by Deborah Brevoort. The play, "modeled on Greek drama and epic in form," tells the story of a group of women in Lockerbie, who are attempting to get access to the clothes of people who died in a plane crash there, so that they can wash them and return them to the victims' families. Rachael Lindhart directs.

Cast

MADELINE LIVINGSTON - "American housewife and the mother of a 20-year old son killed in the crash 7 years ago. She will need to be in her late 40s or early 50s."

BILL LIVINGSTON - "American -- husband of Madeline and father of the son killed in the crash. Also in late 40s or early 50s."

OLIVE ALLISON - "An older woman from Lockerbie (Scottish accent) who is the leader of the laundry project. She is also in her 40s.

WOMAN 1 & WOMAN 2 - "Both women of Lockerbie (Scottish accent) who are part of the laundry project. Could be 30s or 40s or older. Although they don't have names, both are considerable roles -- not chorus or bit parts, although they do sometimes form part of a chorus."

HATTIE - "A cleaning woman from Lockerbie. Again, will need a Scottish accent but could be 30s, 40s or older."

GEORGE JONES - "American government representative in charge of warehouse. His age is variable. He could be a seasoned government man in his 50s or older, or he could be younger and seeking to advance in his government department; but at least in his 30s."

Auditions are being held at the Univeralist Unitarian Society on Saturday, July 14 (2:00 - 4:30) and the Coralville Public Library (Room B) on Tuesday, July 17 (7:00 - 8:30). Actors will read from the script; copies are available to reserve at the Coralville Public Library. Call Rachael Lindhart at 319.337.2206 or email at lindhrach@aol.com with any questions or to set up an alternative audition time.