‘Benson is not simply an actor, but a philosopher, involving the audience, questioning our perspective and views of the world, politics and society today. Pure Fringe theatre at its best - genuinely unique and inspiring.’
**** Edinburgh Guide
SCOTSMAN FRINGE FIRST AWARD WINNER 2010
When 270 people were killed in Britain’s worst terrorist atrocity, grieving father Jim Swire found his faith in his own country’s justice system shattered. Since that fateful night in 1988, Swire has tirelessly campaigned for justice. His full shocking story is told by a triple Fringe First Award-winning team: writer/ performer David Benson, and director Hannah Eidinow.
‘David Benson first moved and astonished us with his uncannily accurate impression of Kenneth Williams but also personalised it by telling us how important Williams had been to him, I have seen him again and again at Edinburgh, but never to quite the same effect. Until yesterday, when he brought a quietly devastating authority and sense of outrage to Lockerbie: Unfinished Business, a documentary recreation of one tireless man’s campaign to find out who was responsible for the terrorist outrage that fateful December night that claimed the life of his young daughter. And by the end of this show, you know for certain that it wasn’t Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, convicted of the crime but released last year to return to Libya to die of the cancer that he is suffering from. Benson’s performance is the best I expect to see in Edinburgh this year, and perhaps all year.’
Owing to exceptional demand for tickets, we have added a performance of Lockerbie: Unfinished Business on Monday 23 August at 11.45am, at Gilded Balloon Teviot. Buy tickets here.
Lockerbie: Unfinished Business was today nominated for an Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award. The results of the 2010 judging will be announced at 11am on Thursday 26 August. Winners in previous years have included Palace of the End, Deep Cut, The Container, Unprotected and The Exonerated.
The Scotsman has today awarded David Benson a Fringe First award for his newest production, Lockerbie: Unfinished Business. Check out today’s Scotsman for details of all seven winners this week. Congratulations to all involved!
Joyce Mcmillan’s four-star review of Lockerbie: Unfinished Business concludes by saying the show “combines a respectful, subtle and profoundly moving performance with a mighty and unanswerable indictment of cover-up and injustice, in a show that every thinking citizen of this country should see, and act upon.”
‘Considering the recent publicity and the controversial nature of matters pertaining to Ali Al Megrahi and his release from incarceration, it’s perhaps not surprising that the subject of the Lockerbie disaster would feature at the Fringe…’
‘Less poetic, but equally moving, is Lockerbie: Unfinished Business (Gilded Ballon Teviot Dining Room ****), in which David Benson (best known for impersonating Kenneth Williams) plays the Lockerbie campaigner Jim Swire, who lost his daughter Flora on Pan Am flight 103 and has campaigned tirelessly for justice. Benson doesn’t resemble Swire, but his argument is persuasive: the evidence that convicted Al-Megrahi is discredited, and justice lost. Clips of Flora singing ensure emotional heft.’
‘Commanding front pages 22 years after the worst terrorist atrocity on UK soil which killed 270 people, questions over the Lockerbie Bombing are still being asked…’
‘When David Benson set about translating the story of Dr Jim Swire, the father of one of the Lockerbie victims, to the Edinburgh stage, he could not have predicted the whirlwind of renewed controversy.’
‘There are two categories of people who need to see this show: those happy to sound off about the Lockerbie bombing despite knowing little or nothing about it; and those who know plenty, and have been following the efforts of Dr Jim Swire to uncover the truth.’
‘The Lockerbie disaster has come to the Edinburgh Fringe stage as a compelling 70-minute monologue which pours fuel onto a blazing dispute about the man convicted of the airliner bombing over Scotland 22 years ago.’
‘Two Libyans were eventually accused of the Lockerbie bombing. One was acquitted but Megrahi was found guilty in 2001 and given a 27-year sentence in a Scottish prison near Glasgow.’
‘The ongoing furore surrounding the early release on compassionate grounds of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi – the only person convicted of the Lockerbie bombing – is almost a footnote to David Benson’s one-man show on the subject, and has very little relevance to the substance of the piece.’
‘Earlier this year, the Scottish justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, took the decision to send Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing home to Libya to die. It’s a decision that has caused controversy at home and abroad ever since. Jim Swire believes that “The scandal is not that he was released but that he was ever imprisoned in the first place.”’
‘When we saw Abdelbaset al-Megrahi being given a hero’s welcome at Tripoli airport last August, many were appalled. Others found the sight of a mail jailed for the worst ever terrorist attack on UK soil being garlanded distasteful at best.’
‘Better known for his comedic impersonations, David Benson’s latest production isn’t just a stark contrast to what we expect from him – it’s arguably his finest work to date.’
‘Lockerbie: Unfinished Business is an emotional one-man show about the biggest terrorist attack ever in the UK which killed 270 people barely 60 miles from Edinburgh in 1988.’
‘I’ve seen David Benson before, whom I think of as specialising in one man shows, frequently about gay comic actors, such as Frankie Howard or Kenneth Williams or performing in Glee Clubs (also at this venue). Taking on the role of GP, Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was murdered in the Lockerbie terrorist atrocity is an entirely different kettle of fish.’
Lockerbie, a place name but also now the name for the tragedy 22 years ago, when a Pan Am flight was blown up and fell on the small Borders town. 270 people were killed.
Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora, perished on the flight, has long campaigned for truth and justice. Truth about why, who and how. Justice because, he and many others believe that the real perpatrators have not been brought to trial. The play, constructed from Swire’s journals, makes a compelling and subtly reasoned argument, that neither truth nor justice has been served.
‘As American senators continue to press the Scottish government to explain the release last year of Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, the only person convicted in connection with the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, doubts about the former Libyan intelligence agent’s guilt are being explored in a new play.’
Read the first national press rave review for David Benson’s Lockerbie show at the Telegraph site. “A performance that must rank as one of the most quietly compelling and finely judged on the Fringe.”
Lockerbie: Unfinished Business is listed as one of just 30 TimeOut Critics Picks for this year’s Fringe in a special Edinburgh Festivals supplement which accompanies this week’s issue of their London magazine. You can download the supplement here as a PDF to read all their recommendations.
The Independent today named David Benson’s new play Lockerbie: Unfinished Business as one of its 3 must-see shows at Fringe 2010. We always welcome being classed in the top 0.1% of the Fringe! Long may it continue. Read the full story about the Fringe launch here.
Lockerbie: Unfinished Business
Gilded Balloon Teviot (Venue 14)
4 - 30 August (not 18 August)
Start time 14:30
(plus 11:45 on 23 August)
Running time 70 minutes
Tickets £5 - £10
Online Bookings:
Venue | Fringe | Comedy Festival
Phone Bookings:
Venue 0131 622 6552
Fringe 0131 226 0000
David Benson's Official Website
‘Benson is not simply an actor, but a philosopher, involving the audience, questioning our perspective and views of the world, politics and society today. Pure Fringe theatre at its best - genuinely unique and inspiring.’
**** Edinburgh Guide
When 270 people were killed in Britain’s worst terrorist atrocity, grieving father Jim Swire found his faith in his own country’s justice system shattered. Since that fateful night in 1988, Swire has tirelessly campaigned for justice. His full shocking story is told by a triple Fringe First Award-winning team: writer/ performer David Benson, and director Hannah Eidinow.
Latest news
http://edinburghfringe.thepodcastnetwork.com/2010/08/25/the-edinburgh-fringe-show-2010-20-its-just-a-ride/
‘A hauntingly poignant performance… ‘
Read the full review here.
‘David Benson first moved and astonished us with his uncannily accurate impression of Kenneth Williams but also personalised it by telling us how important Williams had been to him, I have seen him again and again at Edinburgh, but never to quite the same effect. Until yesterday, when he brought a quietly devastating authority and sense of outrage to Lockerbie: Unfinished Business, a documentary recreation of one tireless man’s campaign to find out who was responsible for the terrorist outrage that fateful December night that claimed the life of his young daughter. And by the end of this show, you know for certain that it wasn’t Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, convicted of the crime but released last year to return to Libya to die of the cancer that he is suffering from. Benson’s performance is the best I expect to see in Edinburgh this year, and perhaps all year.’
Read it here
‘it’s marvellously told… ‘
Read the full review here
‘This is utterly essential theatre… ‘
Read the full review here
‘What a pity US Senators tend not to attend the Edinburgh Festival Fringe…’
Read the full review here.
‘David Benson gives a well-crafted, commanding performance.’
Read the full article here.
‘Provocative, unsettling and can even interrogate how we define theatre… ‘
Read the full review here.
‘I left feeling betrayed by the shoddy morality of governments, their agencies and the judicial system…’
Read the full review here.
Owing to exceptional demand for tickets, we have added a performance of Lockerbie: Unfinished Business on Monday 23 August at 11.45am, at Gilded Balloon Teviot. Buy tickets here.
Lockerbie: Unfinished Business was today nominated for an Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award. The results of the 2010 judging will be announced at 11am on Thursday 26 August. Winners in previous years have included Palace of the End, Deep Cut, The Container, Unprotected and The Exonerated.
The Scotsman has today awarded David Benson a Fringe First award for his newest production, Lockerbie: Unfinished Business. Check out today’s Scotsman for details of all seven winners this week. Congratulations to all involved!
Joyce Mcmillan’s four-star review of Lockerbie: Unfinished Business concludes by saying the show “combines a respectful, subtle and profoundly moving performance with a mighty and unanswerable indictment of cover-up and injustice, in a show that every thinking citizen of this country should see, and act upon.”
Read the full review here.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-11005594
http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2010/aug/17/lockerbie-unfinished-business-review
‘Truly remarkable…’
Read the full review here:
http://www.broadwaybaby.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6825&catid=46:current-edinburgh-festival
‘Considering the recent publicity and the controversial nature of matters pertaining to Ali Al Megrahi and his release from incarceration, it’s perhaps not surprising that the subject of the Lockerbie disaster would feature at the Fringe…’
Read the full review here:
http://www.britishtheatreguide.info/otherresources/fringe/fringe10-20.htm#lockerbie
‘Less poetic, but equally moving, is Lockerbie: Unfinished Business (Gilded Ballon Teviot Dining Room ****), in which David Benson (best known for impersonating Kenneth Williams) plays the Lockerbie campaigner Jim Swire, who lost his daughter Flora on Pan Am flight 103 and has campaigned tirelessly for justice. Benson doesn’t resemble Swire, but his argument is persuasive: the evidence that convicted Al-Megrahi is discredited, and justice lost. Clips of Flora singing ensure emotional heft.’
‘Commanding front pages 22 years after the worst terrorist atrocity on UK soil which killed 270 people, questions over the Lockerbie Bombing are still being asked…’
Read the full review here:
http://www.bigissuescotland.com/reviews/view/138
Natalie Haynes said, ‘Benson is brilliant. The version of Swire he gives us is extraordinary.’
‘When David Benson set about translating the story of Dr Jim Swire, the father of one of the Lockerbie victims, to the Edinburgh stage, he could not have predicted the whirlwind of renewed controversy.’
Read the full feature here:
http://www.festmag.co.uk/features/236-lockerbie_revisited
‘David Benson is outstanding.’
Read the full review here:
http://www.whatsonstage.com/tickets/theatre/Edinburgh/L0530953760/Lockerbie%3A+Unfinished+Business.html
‘There are two categories of people who need to see this show: those happy to sound off about the Lockerbie bombing despite knowing little or nothing about it; and those who know plenty, and have been following the efforts of Dr Jim Swire to uncover the truth.’
Read the full review here:
http://www.heraldscotland.com/arts-ents/stage-visual-arts/lockerbie-unfinished-business-gilded-balloon-teviot-1.1047922
‘The Lockerbie disaster has come to the Edinburgh Fringe stage as a compelling 70-minute monologue which pours fuel onto a blazing dispute about the man convicted of the airliner bombing over Scotland 22 years ago.’
Read the full article here:
http://hollywoodindustry.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=1180361
‘Two Libyans were eventually accused of the Lockerbie bombing. One was acquitted but Megrahi was found guilty in 2001 and given a 27-year sentence in a Scottish prison near Glasgow.’
Read the full article here:
http://af.reuters.com/article/libyaNews/idAFLDE67B14U20100812?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=0
‘The ongoing furore surrounding the early release on compassionate grounds of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi – the only person convicted of the Lockerbie bombing – is almost a footnote to David Benson’s one-man show on the subject, and has very little relevance to the substance of the piece.’
Read the full review here:
http://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/article/28164-lockerbie-unfinished-business/
‘Earlier this year, the Scottish justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, took the decision to send Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing home to Libya to die. It’s a decision that has caused controversy at home and abroad ever since. Jim Swire believes that “The scandal is not that he was released but that he was ever imprisoned in the first place.”’
Read the full review here:
http://www.fringereview.co.uk/fringeReview/3508.html
‘When we saw Abdelbaset al-Megrahi being given a hero’s welcome at Tripoli airport last August, many were appalled. Others found the sight of a mail jailed for the worst ever terrorist attack on UK soil being garlanded distasteful at best.’
Read the full review here:
http://www.bigonglasgow.com/2010/edinburgh-festival-review-lockerbie-unfinished-business-212360
‘Better known for his comedic impersonations, David Benson’s latest production isn’t just a stark contrast to what we expect from him – it’s arguably his finest work to date.’
Read the full review here:
http://www.scotsman.com/edinburghfestivalfringe/Review-Lockerbie-Unfinished-Business-Gilded.6466512.jp
‘Lockerbie: Unfinished Business is an emotional one-man show about the biggest terrorist attack ever in the UK which killed 270 people barely 60 miles from Edinburgh in 1988.’
Read the full review here:
http://ed.thestage.co.uk/reviews/867
‘I’ve seen David Benson before, whom I think of as specialising in one man shows, frequently about gay comic actors, such as Frankie Howard or Kenneth Williams or performing in Glee Clubs (also at this venue). Taking on the role of GP, Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was murdered in the Lockerbie terrorist atrocity is an entirely different kettle of fish.’
Read the full article here:
http://fringe.scotsgay.co.uk/2010/08/10/lockerbie-unfinished-business/
From Whatsonstage.com:
Lockerbie, a place name but also now the name for the tragedy 22 years ago, when a Pan Am flight was blown up and fell on the small Borders town. 270 people were killed.
Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora, perished on the flight, has long campaigned for truth and justice. Truth about why, who and how. Justice because, he and many others believe that the real perpatrators have not been brought to trial. The play, constructed from Swire’s journals, makes a compelling and subtly reasoned argument, that neither truth nor justice has been served.
Click here to read more
‘As American senators continue to press the Scottish government to explain the release last year of Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, the only person convicted in connection with the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, doubts about the former Libyan intelligence agent’s guilt are being explored in a new play.’
Watch the video and read the full article here:
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/11/lockerbie-doubts-dramatized-in-new-play/
Watch it here
Watch it here
Read the first national press rave review for David Benson’s Lockerbie show at the Telegraph site. “A performance that must rank as one of the most quietly compelling and finely judged on the Fringe.”
Read the article here.
Read it here.
Read the full article here:
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/fringe-play-tells-swire-story-1.1046851?localLinksEnabled=false
Watch this excerpt from Channel 4 News about Lockerbie, including footage from the show (fast forward to 2m20s if you’re in a hurry).
http://lockerbiecase.blogspot.com/2010/08/lockerbie-play-draws-attention-at.html
http://www.newser.com/article/d9he3l500/play-about-lockerbie-bombing-opens-as-comedy-controversy-mark-eclectic-edinburgh-fringe-fest.html
Read this fascinating interview with David Benson in the current issue of The List.
The Sunday Express suggests that Lockerbie: Unfinished Business may be catalyst behind the creation of a Hollywood film about the disaster.
David Benson’s interview with The Scotsman hit the front page of the paper today. Read it here.
Lockerbie: Unfinished Business is listed as one of just 30 TimeOut Critics Picks for this year’s Fringe in a special Edinburgh Festivals supplement which accompanies this week’s issue of their London magazine. You can download the supplement here as a PDF to read all their recommendations.
The Independent today named David Benson’s new play Lockerbie: Unfinished Business as one of its 3 must-see shows at Fringe 2010. We always welcome being classed in the top 0.1% of the Fringe! Long may it continue. Read the full story about the Fringe launch here.
Major news story about David Benson’s new show exploring Jim Swire’s quest for Lockerbie justice.