Search for Lockerbie truth takes centre stage at Fringe

David Benson is telling campaigner Jim Swire’s story in one-man show Lockerbie: Unfinished Business

THE bombing of a passenger jet in the skies over Lockerbie killed 270 people and was the worst terrorist atrocity in the UK.

Now the tragedy is to be brought to the stage in a hard-hitting show at this year's Edinburgh Festival Fringe, The Scotsman can reveal.

The efforts of leading Scottish campaigner Jim Swire to find the truth about the bombing of the Boeing 747 will be the focus of a one-man play at one of the biggest venues, Gilded Balloon.

The show is based on an unpublished book that Mr Swire, who lost his daughter Flora in the disaster, has worked on for years with author and Lockerbie researcher Peter Biddulph.

Written and performed by multi-award winning Fringe veteran David Benson, Lockerbie: Unfinished Business is billed as "a hard-hitting piece of political theatre with international relevance".

It will explore the conspiracy theories behind the blowing up of Pan Am flight 103 over the Dumfriesshire town on 21 December 1988, the impact of the disaster on Mr Swire's life and the continuing search for justice for the 270 victims.

The show's run will coincide with the first anniversary of the release of the only man convicted of the bombing, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, from Scottish custody last year.

The Scottish Government decided to release Megrahi and allow him to return home to Tripoli on compassionate grounds because he apparently had only a short time to live. Ten months on, he is still alive.

However, Mr Swire backed the decision to release him on the grounds that he is convinced others were to blame for the bombing.

Mr Benson, previously best known for his portrayals of Kenneth Williams and Noel Coward, said he would not be attempting to impersonate Mr Swire, although the show would be told from his point of view.

He said: "I've had an interest in Lockerbie for some time and came across the website Jim and Peter have set up to try to get their manuscript for the book published, and contacted them through it.

"Peter had already been looking at getting some kind of play off the ground, but it's now a one-man show, which is really about Jim's dogged pursuit of truth and justice since 1988, and where that has taken him."

Mr Swire admitted he had had little involvement in the development of the play, and was concerned it could increase tensions between the families of the victims in Scotland and the US.

He added: "The book, which we're still hoping to get published, is a full account of the campaign, which is obviously being updated all the time.

"We are still trying to secure a public inquiry after all this time and that campaign is still going on with the new government at Westminster."

Mr Biddulph said: "Publishers are just too scared to take on the book for fear of being pursued by lawyers, so it's great that the play will be at the Fringe."

The Gilded Balloon's other shows include a new theatre show from Doon Mackichan, the comic actress known for Smack the Pony and The Day Today.

Other big-name comedians performing at the venue include Tommy Tiernan, Sean Hughes, Phil Kay and Shazia Mirza. Fred MacAulay, Parrot, Stu Who? and Bruce Morton will be reunited for one-night only in their classic "Funny Farm" line-up.

There is live music from Lach, the founder of New York's "anti-folk" movement, Irish comedy rockers Dead Cat Bounce, and Australia's Axis of Awesome. Caroline Rhea, star of US sitcom Sabrina the Teenage Witch, will also be appearing at the venue.