A PLAY written by a Syracuse student who was meant to be on Pan Am 103 will debut at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe later this month.
The capital will host the worldwide premiere of Fuselage, described as ‘a deeply personal and powerful new play’, written and performed by American theatre artist Annie Lareau and based on her memoirs.
It tells the story of how she narrowly missed boarding the doomed flight that claimed the lives of her best friend Theodora Cohen and 34 other Syracuse University students in December 1988. Unable to afford a last-minute ticket change, she had stayed behind – a decision that would haunt her for years.
Writing on her website about the life-changing events that unfolded, Annie said: “On December 21st, 1988, 35 of my classmates, friends, and flatmates died in the terrorist bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie. I was only 19 years old. I was supposed to be on that plane. Instead, I had just seen them off to Heathrow Airport only hours before. My best friend was among them.
“Fuselage zooms in on our budding lives as young actors enrolled in the Syracuse University Theatre programme, hhstories of friendships only I can tell. We were immersed in a newfound sense of belonging and buzzed with excitement to study abroad together in London.
“The memoir follows my journey through the bombing, the lonely debilitating grief, my brushes with overwhelming international media attention, and the self-punishment I battled as a kind of lone survivor. “Braided throughout are the voices of those living quietly in Lockerbie, who awoke to shattered bodies and molten metal raining down. I came to know many of these kind souls who’d undertaken the grim task of tending my friends’ remains.”
Fuselage blends humour, compassion, and raw emotion and explores the optimism and tight bonds of youth alongside the horror witnessed by Lockerbie locals, including Colin Dorrance, an 18-year-old newly appointed police constable who was among the first responders to the crash site.
The play also reflects Annie’s personal battles with panic attacks, nightmares and survivor’s guilt.
On the official Facebook page for the play, she writes: “Fuselage promises to be a poignant tribute to friendship, resilience, and the fragile beauty of life, reminding audiences of the enduring human spirit even in the face of unimaginable loss.
“Because no single event has ever bridged Scotland and the United States in this way, the stories of those we lost will always connect us.”
