BLACK WATCH. To 26 July.
Tour.
BLACK WATCH
by Gregory Burke.
National Theatre Scotland Tour to 26 July 2008.
Runs 1hr 55min No interval.
Review: Timothy Ramsden 25 April at Warwick Arts Centre Coventry (to 3 May).
Theatrically and thematically devastating.
Trailing five-star clouds of glory, this 2006 National Theatre Scotland production lives right up to its reputation, and shows Scotland’s National Theatre to be deeply aware of the nation it represents (how many National Theatres in these shores can say as much?).
Formed in 17th-century Fife and Perthshire to control unruly Highlanders, the Black Watch was promised they would never be sent abroad, highlighting the irony of Gregory Burke’s focus: their soldiering in Iraq today. Based on interviews with the men, foul-mouthed, aggressive yet brave and shrewd, the script emphasises by repetition the awareness they’re not defending their own country, but invading someone else’s.
As one traumatised soldier assaults the Writer researching their experiences, his comrades skilfully neutralise him, then explain his behaviour. The moment captures the men’s professionalism and camaraderie. Skills lacking in the politicians controlling them; just as the troops were sent into northern Iraq’s danger-zone, they learned their regiment was to be merged with others.
Burke points up the sense of community. He neither sanitises nor patronises young men who can be crude and frightening but also endure discomfort and continuous threat of violence. Their working-lives are often passed in cramped vehicles; represented by container-trucks and even a pool-table, where the serious army-game to come is prefigured back home.
The cast is a magnificent ensemble. On such a bare-stage it’s easy to underestimate the significant contribution of Laura Hopkins’ set-pieces, or the focus provided by Colin Grenfell’s lighting. And director John Tiffany orchestrates with a mighty sweep of fresh invention, from the Edinburgh Tattoo-style opening’s sudden switch to the private’s-eye view, through movement sequences devised by Frantic Assembly’s Steven Hoggett, to the sudden, spectacular, devastating disruption of comradeship by a suicide-bomber attack.
Telling images encapsulate key points; a soldier recounts the Watch’s history while parading over the stage, repeatedly rekitted by his fellows in the regiment’s various uniforms, a sign both of continuity and the repeated demands on them for change.
A couple of solo songs add little. But its bold theatricality, avoiding the simplistic while never pulling its punches, makes Black Watch a major piece of theatre.
Macca: David Colvin.
Kenzie: Paul James Corrigan.
Stewarty: Ali Craig.
Fraz: Emun Elliott.
OIfficer: Jack Fortune.
Granty: Jonathan Holt.
Writer/Sergeant: Michael Nardone.
Rossco: Henry Pettigrew.
Cammy: Paul Rattray.
Nabsy: Nabil Stuart.
Director: John Tiffany.
Designer: Laura Hopkins.
Lighting: Colin Grenfell.
Sound: Gareth Fry.
Music: Davey Anderson.
Movement: Steven Hoggett.
Video: Leo Warner, Mark Grimmer for Fifty Nine Productions Ltd.
Costume: Jessica Brettle.
Staff director: Hamish Pirie.
2008-04-28 09:47:34