Black Watch (play)

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Black Watch
Written by Gregory Burke
Place premiered Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Original languageEnglish
SubjectThe Black Watch Regiment in Iraq 2004
GenreDrama
Setting Iraq War

Black Watch is a play written by Gregory Burke and directed by John Tiffany as part of the first season of the National Theatre of Scotland. [1]

Contents

Based on interviews with former soldiers, [2] it portrays soldiers in the Black Watch regiment of the British Army serving on Operation TELIC in Iraq during 2004, prior to the amalgamation into the Royal Regiment of Scotland. Black Watch was first performed during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe on 1 August 2006 in a temporary traverse stage at the former University of Edinburgh Officer Training Corps' Drill hall. [3]

Well received by critics, Black Watch has won four Olivier Awards including Best New Play. [4] It has also won a Herald Angel, The Scotsman Fringe First, a Best Theatre Writing Award from The List , a Stage Award for Best Ensemble, the South Bank Show award for Theatre and four Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland. [2]

Context

The Black Watch regiment is based in Fife and the Tayside region in Scotland, and the British Army has been a part of their lives for generations. Their fathers, grandfathers, great grandfathers, have been soldiers in the regiment – a regiment that has been involved in virtually every major conflict since it was formed as the Gallant Forty Twa in 1739. "It's in the blood. It's part of who we are."

In October 2004, the Black Watch was at the centre of political controversy after the United States Army requested British forces to be moved further north outside of the British-controlled Multi-National Division, to replace forces temporarily redeployed for the Second Battle of Fallujah.

Despite objections in Parliament, the deployment went ahead. Based at Camp Dogwood, located between Fallujah and Karbala, in an area later dubbed the "Triangle of Death", the Black Watch came under sustained insurgent attack from mortars and rockets. On 4 November three soldiers and an interpreter were killed by a car bomb at a check point. The high-profile nature of the deployment caused a magnification of these deaths back home in Britain. On 16 December 2004, the controversy surrounding the Black Watch was further heightened by the official announcement that the regiment was to be amalgamated with the other regiments in the Scottish Division to form the Royal Regiment of Scotland. The then Secretary of State for Defence, Geoff Hoon, was accused by the SNP of "stabbing the soldiers in the back" and being motivated purely by political and administrative concerns, with little regard to the effect on morale.

Cast and productions

Original cast2008 cast2010 cast2012-13 cast
CammyBrian FergusonPaul Rattray Jack Lowden Ryan Fletcher/Stuart Martin
GrantyPaul RattrayJonathan Holt Richard Rankin
RosscoJordan YoungHenry PettigrewRoss AndersonAdam McNamara
StewartyAli CraigSteven MillerChris Starkie Benjamin Davies
MaccaDavid ColvinCameron Barnes
NabsyNabil StewartRyan FletcherStuart MartinGavin Jon Wright
Writer/Sergeant Paul Higgins Michael NardoneAdam McNamaraRobert Jack
Kenzie Ryan Fletcher Paul James CorriganScott Fletcher
Fraz Emun Elliott James Quinn Andrew Fraser
Officer/Lord Elgin Peter Forbes Ian Pirie Stephen McCole
UnderstudiesPaul Tinto Daniel Portman
Matt McClure

Other cast members have included: Tom Smith (Sergeant/ Writer – 2007 Scottish tour), Jack Fortune (Officer – 2007–2008), Duncan Anderson (Rossco, 2008).

Black Watch was the first National Theatre of Scotland production to be performed internationally. Productions tours have travelled:

Score

The production's score features new music and arrangements of traditional songs from composer Davey Anderson alongside contemporary chart hits, instrumentals and recordings. Traditional songs are sung live by the cast. The Black Bear is performed live on bagpipes.

Reviews

"They were every soldier; they were also irreducibly themselves. This exquisitely sustained double vision makes Black Watch one of the most richly human works of art to have emerged from this long-lived war" The New York Times [5]

"Rarely has the torpor, the tension, the nerve-shattering randomness of this conflict's violence been made so agonizingly real – in real time. Black Watch is like a dose of caffeine delivered directly to the bloodstream." The Washington Post [6]

"Brimming with breathtaking theatricality, inventiveness, style, thought provoking intelligence, humour and heart…an unmissable piece of theatre." Metro [7]

"A mature and complex piece of political theatre – fierce, passionate and unguarded." The Guardian [8]

In September 2019, The Guardian writers listed Black Watch as the ninth best theatre show since 2000. [9]

Awards

The production has won multiple international awards including four Laurence Olivier Awards, four Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland and The South Bank Show Award for Theatre.

Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland 2006-2007

DVD release

A DVD recording of the play, including the Scottish BAFTA award-winning BBC Scotland documentary Black Watch: A Soldier's Story, was released in October 2008. [10] It won in the international category in the 2008 Prix Circom Regional Programme Awards. [11]

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References

  1. ↑ "Black Watch | Main | National Theatre of Scotland". Nationaltheatrescotland.com. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
  2. 1 2 "UK | Scotland | Tayside and Central | Black Watch play tops awards list". BBC News. 13 May 2007. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
  3. ↑ Thom Dibdin (10 August 2006). "The Stage / Reviews / Black Watch". Thestage.co.uk. Retrieved 30 September 2010.
  4. ↑ Olivier Awards guardian.co.uk
  5. ↑ Brantley, Ben (24 October 2007). "THEATER REVIEW | 'BLACK WATCH'". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  6. ↑ Marks, Peter (3 November 2007). "'Black Watch': Embedding Drama With War Reality". The Washington Post. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  7. ↑ Chadwick, Alan (6 August 2006). "Black Watch". Metro. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  8. ↑ Gardner, Lyn (8 August 2006). "Black Watch". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  9. ↑ Billington, Michael; Soloski, Alexis; Love, Catherine; Fisher, Mark; Wiegand, Chris (17 September 2019). "The 50 best theatre shows of the 21st century". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  10. ↑ "BBC RELEASE BLACK WATCH DVD AND DOCUMENTARY". Nationaltheatrescotland.com. 10 October 2008. Retrieved 1 October 2010.[ permanent dead link ]
  11. ↑ Croatia (10 February 2010). "Prix Circom 2008". Circom-regional.eu. Retrieved 1 October 2010.
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