A Compelling Catharsis
By Tom Wachunas
“I sat with my anger long enough until she told me her
real name was grief.” ― C.S.
Lewis
The sky fell, the earth bled. On December 21,
1988, 270 people from 21 countries died in the terrorist bombing of Pan American
Flight 103 en route from London to New York. The explosion rained a torrent of human
bodies and debris across many miles, including the city of Lockerbie, Scotland,
where 11 of the dead were Lockerbie citizens on the ground.
That’s the start of
the story in Deborah Brevoort’s 2001 play, The Women of Lockerbie. It’s written
as a modern form of classical Greek tragedy. This profoundly moving ode to
mourning, anger and redemption, presented by Seat of the Pants Productions and
directed by Craig Joseph, is as breath-giving as it is breathtaking.
The combination of scenic design by Ron Newell and lighting by Micah
Harvey is a potent one, creating a sensation of barren, haunted landscape.
Abstract sculptural forms hover in the air, alternately suggesting plumes of smoke,
mangled wreckage, or twisted bodies descending.
The play
unfolds during the night of the winter solstice - December 21, 1995 - in the rolling hills of Lockerbie on the 7th
anniversary of the horrible crime. Wandering through the Lockerbie landscape is
Madeline Livingston (Anjanette Hall), a New Jersey housewife who had spent
every day of her life weeping since the bombing.
Arriving in Lockerbie with her husband, Bill (Terence
Cranendonk), for a memorial community mourning vigil, Madeline senses ghosts in
the hills and immediately goes on an urgent search for the unrecovered remains
of her 20 year-old son who had perished in the crash. Bill, knowing such a
crazed hunt was futile, is powerless to assuage her misery. He questions Madeline’s
sanity. He wonders if God even exists in this world. His own pent-up grief is
all the more augmented when his wife says he doesn’t love their son at all.
Bill connects with
tender-hearted, feisty Lockerbie resident, Olive Allison (Anne McEvoy) and two
of her friends (Woman 1, played by Charlene V. Smith, and Woman 2, played by
Natalie Sander Kern). Each member of this lively ‘chorus’ suffered personal
loss in the bombing. When Olive encounters Madeline’s whining self-pity, she
breaks down, unleashing a furious, hateful tirade against America’s role in the
bombing. The need for mutual healing was never more urgent.
The
women unite and embrace a mission of mercy to retrieve 11,000 pieces of clothing
recovered from the crash so they can wash them in a stream - a symbolic action
of purification meant to cleanse broken souls. The clothes had been sealed in
bags (deemed “contaminated evidence” by the U.S. government), and stored in a
warehouse guarded by a cold-hearted, disgruntled American bureaucrat, George
Jones (Doug Sutherland). “Lockerbie is the Siberia of the State Department” is
his blithe assessment. He refuses to release the clothing as it is scheduled to
be burned up very soon. Eventually he will relent, proclaiming, “Hate won’t win
in Lockerbie.” Meanwhile, he accuses his
Lockerbie employee, Hattie (Sabrina Maristela), of being a spy as she’s
constantly at his office door busily sweeping up the dirt from his shoes. An
amused Hatie denies the accusation, and then casually denies her denial in a
welcome dose of sassy humor.
In his program
notes, director Craig Joseph wrote, “I’m grateful for the clear-minded,
open-hearted, and full-bodied cast and design team who bravely explored these
questions: What might a Greek drama look like in the 21st century? How would it force us to work differently?
What new skills would it invite us to develop?...”
Open-hearted, full-bodied bravery. New
skills indeed. The startling caliber of unflinching expressionism from all
the performers in this heart-wrenching story of communal connection and healing
is extraordinary. It’s an expressionism, certainly a poetry, at once terrifying
and painful, sincere and credible. And ultimately inspiring.
Sky falls. Earth
bleeds. Alone we are broken. Together we heal. Catharsis is that simple, that
complex. Come see. Listen (oh, those marvelous Scottish accents!). And be
grateful.
The Women of
Lockerbie – photos by Aimee Lambes - July 19, 20, 26, 27 at 7:30pm / July 21 and 26
at 2:30pm / at Founders Hall, Malone University, 425 25th Street NW
Canton, OH / Tickets at
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