Hatred to hope on the rolling Hills: NGU Theatre presents The Women of Lockerbie
Grace Turner, Staff Writer
Photo Courtesy of Aviya Baluch
Based on the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie Scotland in 1988, “The Women of Lockerbie,” tells the story of a mother’s battle with grief and the healing that can come through an act of love.
“The Women of Lockerbie” runs in the Bilingsley Theatre Feb. 19-21 and 26-28, 2026.
The show is set seven years after the crash, following Madeleine Livingston, who is roaming the hills of Scotland looking for some remnant of her son. Livingston is being played by senior theatre performance major Sadie Beaumont.
Beaumont is taking on this role as her senior project for the theatre program.
For Beaumont, the show is about how when you’re going through something dark, finding community can be such a good way to grieve and also to find God through that.
“Those emotions are real and they’re hard,” said Beaumont. “But what comes out of it is such beautiful community and such light.”
Done in the style of an ancient Greek tragedy the show also features a chorus of women that are working to bring peace to the victims families. The chorus is lead by Olive Allison portrayed by senior musical theatre major Isabelle Western. Western is also taking on this part for her senior capstone.
“I recommend that you bring tissues” said Western said as she laughed. “Come with an open heart and listen. Listen to the words. Those are what the play is all about.”
The show is being directed by Amy Dunlap, the associate dean of the school of the arts and assistant directed by student Dylan Thompson. The shows stage manager is senior theatre major, Anna Faith Major, who takes on the project as her senior capstone for the design track.
For Thompson, the message of “The Women of Lockerbie” is “grief isn’t forever.” Through the show he sees the analogy that a wound can turn into a scar and then become more like armor.
Thompson said, “It’s easy to hear targedy, grief, and current events based tragedy and grief and think it’s all doom and gloom, but I think that’s the most beautiful thing about these stories is that you can see them in a light that is light rather than darkness.”
The show runs 90 minutes. Beaumont encourages students to just spend an hour and a half sitting with those emotions and letting yourself feel that and then see the beauty that comes from it.
Students can pick up their free ticket to “The Women of Lockerbie” at the box office located in the NGU School of Theatre. Tickets can also be purchased at the box office or online on the school website North Greenville University.
