London Arts & Letters  

Latest Posts  |  Archive  | 

'Black Watch' Finally Lands in London, to Applause

by Zoe Strimpel
Sun, 29 Jun 2008 at 11:44 PM

Print

Send

RSS

Share:

"Black Watch," Gregory Burke's play about a Scottish regiment in Iraq, based on interviews with servicemen, has finally come to London two years after taking the Edinburgh Festival Fringe by storm. It toured America (including New York), Australia, and New Zealand last year; but the producers couldn't find the right venue for it in London.

It's a tough one because of its "traverse staging," which requires a long, rectangular space with two banks of audience seating on either side, a bit like a fashion runway. Producers tried to find a drill hall (such as was used in Edinburgh) or gym that would work; none of the theatres at the National were deemed appropriate, and attempts to purpose-build a temporary venue were thwarted. Finally, the Barbican, which has reconfigured its stage to accommodate the show, was chosen.

Despite the struggle of getting it here, it has opened to rapturous reviews. The fact that we've had years of Iraq-inspired art and drama hasn't dampened the play's reception and is testament to its dramatic clout and sagacity. Writes David Smith in today's Observer: "Gregory Burke's magnificent Black Watch rips us out of our domestic comfort zone. His masterstroke is that he does not attempt to write a war drama. Instead, drawing on interviews with soldiers who fought in Iraq, he lets them speak in their own words. The result is a raw, rough, thrilling piece of reportage which takes us inside that incommunicable fire in the role of embedded audience." If only more War on Terror-inspired art were this good.

London Arts & Letters Homepage