Some works of art inspire joy and laughter while others invoke soul crushing cynicism, yet few manage to do both at the same time. Even most of the enduring classics seem to do either one or the other, and typically they’re on the tragic side. The Women of Lockerbie is a play that balances themes of hope and harsh reality, encompassing the image of a light within a dark world.
The story revolves around a grieving American couple who lost their son in a plane crash above Lockerbie, Scotland. The mother is stricken with grief to the point of being dysfunctional. Searching for closure, she runs around the hills of Lockerbie at night in hope that she will find even just a scrap of her son’s remains. The women of Lockerbie are inhabitants of the hills who try to comfort the couple, and they also have an agenda to return the confiscated clothes of the plane crash victims to their families. The story line switches between this political battle and the personal struggle of the American couple.
The women of Lockerbie are fascinating characters, almost other-worldly, like hobbits or elves. Even those who hardly speak any dialogue have the essence of genuinely good people. Without a word, they appear like saints, radiating wisdom and kindness — and their main spokeswoman, Olive, has a great sense of strength about her. How often do we meet true Christians who convey such strength of character that purity seems to surround their very presence?
After much bureaucratic conflict, the women manage to win the political battle and return the clothes to the families. One powerful bit of dialogue describes hundreds of women protesting for the clothes, though this scene isn’t shown onstage. Another moment that stands out in memory is Olive’s description of war, which inspires her husband to argue about God’s existence. The most memorable moments of the play actually involve no action at all — just poignant dialogue.
When Olive returns the clothes to the grieving mother, she finally calms down and receives the closure she needs. The women of Lockerbie hardly have the emotional strength to wash the bloody clothes in the river…yet in a final plot twist, the emotionally broken mother is the first to wash them. As she does so, the dark background changes to the colors of a sunrise.
The Women of Lockerbie is emotionally exhausting to be sure. The guy behind me cried consistently through the entire play, and — as is said — I doubt there was a dry eye in the theater by the end. Yet what made the play so memorable wasn’t just the buckets of angst, but the underlying message of hope.
Sophisticated Innocence 