Touring show looks at parallels between Piper Alpha disaster and climate emergency
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Lyth Arts Centre is among the venues for a multimedia theatre production that explores the parallels between the current climate emergency and the Piper Alpha disaster of 1988 – and puts forward the idea that the Earth is now itself a "burning platform".
The touring show Pibroch uses poetry created by Aberdeenshire-based writer and artist John Bolland – a former oil worker who is now a climate activist – along with live music and visual imagery. It represents the experiences of Piper Alpha survivors and their relationship to the challenges of living on a warming planet.
Bolland’s words are complemented by multi-instrumentalist and composer Fraser Fifield, who provides musical accompaniment.
Pibroch began as an idea for a demonstration against further fossil-fuel development during an offshore oil and gas exhibition in 2019, Bolland explained.
"It will be the 35th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster this July and, although half a lifetime has passed, we seem not to have understood the underlying lessons," he said. "Researching both the disaster and the climate, I was struck by the statement of Red Adair [the American oil-well firefighter who was a responder to the emergency] that the only way to extinguish a fire of this nature is to deny it fuel.
"I hope those who come along to the performances will come away with a sense of disquiet and a modicum of hope – disquieted by the fact that they are, in more than a metaphorical sense, on a burning platform, and hopeful because, collectively as well as individually, we can figure out what we are going to do about it, for ourselves, for our children and grandchildren, for most of life on earth."
A member of North East Scotland Climate Action Network, Bolland has been actively involved in the oil and gas industry’s response to Piper Alpha. A total of 167 men died in the disaster – most, he says, while following instructions and awaiting rescue in the mess hall. He points out that those who survived were, in many cases, those who took their lives and their survival into their own hands.
Pibroch began a tour of 16 venues across Scotland at the start of April and will be at Lyth on Monday, May 1 (7.30pm), with tickets priced £10.
The final performance is in Banchory on the 35th anniversary of the Piper Alpha disaster.
A question-and-answer session is being held after each performance.
Pibroch is created, performed and co-directed by John Bolland. The other co-director is Mark Thomson, former artistic director at the Royal Lyceum in Edinburgh.
The tour is supported by Creative Scotland’s Touring Fund for Theatre and Dance.
Copies of Pibroch the book are available through the View From the Long Grass website and from the publisher, Red Squirrel Press.
