Doppler

Adapted and directed by Ben Harrison
From the novel by Erlend Loe, translated by Don Bartlett and Don Shaw

An outdoor, site-responsive performance for a seated audience.

11th and 12th September 2025
Explorers Garden, Pitlochry Festival Theatre

24th – 26th September and 29th September – 2nd October 2025
Woodland behind Øksnevad High School, Rogaland, Norway.

Supported by Den kulturelle skolesekken, Rogaland

AWARDS

Nominated: Critics Award for Theatre in Scotland – Best Actor and Best Technical Presentation categories

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“I am a man of my time. A failed man of my time. Or just a man of a failed time. Depending on how you look at it.”

Doppler had everything. He thought.

Wife, two kids, 23-hour working week and time to ride his bicycle. Until the accident. Now he lives in a forest just outside Oslo with a baby elk.

Come into the woods with Grid Iron for this funny and subversive fable about existence, consumerism and trying to live life in isolation when people just won’t leave you alone.

Grid Iron are delighted to be bringing back this beautiful production, following a sell-out run at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2021 for a short run of preview performances prior to travelling to Norway at the invitation of Den kulturelle skolesekken, where it will be performed for invited audiences of high school pupils in the Rogaland region.

You can read more about the incredible journey we have already been on with Doppler on our Past Production page, including how it very nearly became the only live production of the Covid-induced digital Fringe of 2020 and watch the documentary we made when that couldn’t happen, but it is very special to be taking this show to the country in which it is set.

Production Photography by Duncan McGlynn

Programme

To read more information about the show, including the Director’s Note and team biographies, have a look through our production programme.

Dates & Information

	Date	Time	Tickets
Preview	Sept 11	2pm (1h30m)	Buy Tickets
Previews	Sept 12	11am (1h30m)	Buy Tickets
Previews	Sept 12	2pm (1h30m)	Buy Tickets

PLEASE NOTE: Public tickets are not available for the Norwegian performances. For information about DKS please visit www.denkulturelleskolesekken.no

1hr 30 minutes approx. No Interval.

BOX OFFICE INFORMATION

www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com/whats-on

PLEASE NOTE

The production contains the following:
Discussion of suicide, strong language, fire/smoke and a loud sound effect.
Our performance location in the Explorer’s Garden at Pitlochry Festival Theatre is a short walk uphill. Please contact the box office for access information.

ACCESS & TRAVEL INFORMATION

www.pitlochryfestivaltheatre.com/visit-us

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What The Press Said

“a mightily complex and disturbing meditation for our time, delivered with a light-touch brilliance – and a string sense of comedy – that never obscures the significance of the themes at hand… powerfully entertaining… it is a measure of the brilliance of Keith Fleming’s performance as Doppler that he encompasses every aspect of this hugely complex character with apparent ease and immense story-telling skill… flawless production”

The Scotsman★★★★★

“a sensory show, and immersive in the best sense of the word. The scent of campfire lingers and Nik Paget-Tomlinson’s sound design is everywhere, merging with the forest surroundings in subtle and ingenious ways. Becky’s Minto’s set is similarly in sync with the environment, adding to the natural stage rather than disrupting it. David A Pollock’s organic score further underpins the atmospheric, immersive nature of the experience… originally intended to debut in 2019 and postponed due to COVID, Doppler was well worth the wait.”

The Skinny★★★★★

“beauty and magic”

The Outlier★★★★★

“Grid Iron has brilliantly transposed this Norwegian tale, of a man who leaves his family to live in a tent, to the grounds of a National Trust for Scotland property. If there is one company well suited to adapting to the Covid pandemic it is Grid Iron. The Edinburgh specialist in site-responsive theatre is never seen in the same place twice. Inviting us to a woodland corner where we sit on socially distanced tree stumps is something we would have done anyway… a tremendous performance.”

The Guardian★★★★

“If you go down to the woods over the next couple of weeks, weather permitting, the surprise in Grid Iron theatre company’s long awaited new outdoor show comes in just how well an open space can work for such expansive material… an inadvertently timely study of one man’s self-isolation and the need to sometimes get back to nature… Despite the seriousness of the material, there is a lightness at play”

The Herald★★★★

“Ben Harrison directs with nuance. He’s not afraid to bring the pace to a near standstill…, or to drive it forward with ferocity when required. His adaptation is clever too, punctuated by comic moments… a fascinating examination of modern masculinity and the relationship between father and sons”

The Stage★★★★

“hugely enjoyable”

New York Times

“wonderfully cartoonish and darkly comic… The beauty of Harrison’s clever production is that it creates a brilliant balance between the character of Doppler (as the fixed, if somewhat unhinged, centre of the story) and the other characters (such as Bosse, the consummately named posh, reactionary eccentric). While Fleming gives a performance that is a perfectly calibrated combination of plausible rationale and wide-eyed lunacy, Tylor and Hay are at liberty to play the orbiting characters as gloriously colourful caricatures… an original, funny and thought-provoking piece of theatre.”

The National

“funny, thought-provoking and deftly, adroitly sketched… It’s a polemic against capitalism, acquisition, superficial success… a timely reflection on the role we could and should be playing to support rather than thwart the planet we live on… In some ways this is a daft story but the stoic sincerity of the cast makes it magnificent… a fascinating live show.”

The Wee Review★★★★

“one of this year’s most anticipated productions”

The Irish Times

“Keith Fleming’s performance as Doppler is glorious in its energy and commitment.”

The Observer★★★

“this outdoor adaptation beautifully highlights the story’s central irony; that being one with nature is impossible, because humans always pull focus.”

Financial Times★★★

Support Us

If you’d like to support us to make live performances of Doppler happen when we’re able, or any of the other work that we’re doing, we would be extremely grateful.

Donate via Paypal

Video

View the trailer for Doppler here…

Cast

Keith Fleming

Sean Hay

Itxaso Moreno

Nik Paget-Tomlinson

Production Team

Writer & Director:
Ben Harrison

Producer:
Judith Doherty

Finance & Development Manager:
Deborah Crewe

Dramaturg:
Eszter Marsalko

Composer:
David A. Pollock

Sound Design, Musician and Live Foley:
Nik Paget-Tomlinson

Set & Costume Designer:
Becky Minto

Puppet Designer:
Fergus Dunnet

Lighting Designer:
Elle Taylor

Production Manager
Elle Taylor

Technical Manager:
Dan Findlay-Carroll

Company Stage Manager:
Mickey Graham

Deputy Stage Manager:
Katy Steele

View Our Programme

To read more information about the show, including the Director’s Note and team biographies, have a look through our production programme.

View Production Programme Download Audio Version

Supporters

Dedication

This production is dedicated to the memory of our dear friend, Angela Wrapson, who made it possible for us to perform as part of Stavanger2008 European Capital of Culture and who looked after us so well on our Norwegian adventures.

Past Productions

The productions are listed in chronological order with the most recent first.

If you want to know more about our work or just want to get in touch to say hi!
You can reach us by clicking here.