Frances Poet. Small Acts of Love. Directed by Dominic Hill, music and lyrics by Ricky Ross. Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, 9 September–4 October 2025

Citation

Clark A & Toth G (2026) Frances Poet. Small Acts of Love. Directed by Dominic Hill, music and lyrics by Ricky Ross. Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, 9 September–4 October 2025. International Review of Scottish Studies, 51 (1), pp. 67-70. https://doi.org/10.3366/irss.2026.0066

Abstract
First paragraph: Emerging from a seven-year renovation, the old-new Citizens Theatre of Glasgow reopened with an ambitious historical-docudrama-musical play based on the most difficult of topics: the bombing of Pan Am 103 on 21 December 1988. The deliberate destruction of a Boeing 747 en route from London to New York in the skies over the Scottish borders remains the largest case of mass murder in Scottish history and the deadliest terrorist atrocity in British history. In total, 270 people died in the attack attributed to Colonel Muammar Gadaffi's Libyan regime: 259 onboard the flight and a further eleven on the ground, as the majority of the wreckage crashed into residential areas in the town of Lockerbie. It is not a subject that would initially seem fitting for a musical play, but Deacon Blue's Ricky Ross composed a score that was joyful, upsetting, and uplifting; whatever tone was required by Poet's writing and Hill's direction was achieved and delivered with aplomb by the cast and five-piece band in this outstanding piece of theatre.

Journal
International Review of Scottish Studies: Volume 51, Issue 1