Black Watch

“An astonishing artistic whirlwind. The world must see this play. Immediately.” -The Herald

“One of the clearest artistic statements yet on the futility of war” [The Herald], Black Watch took the 2006 Edinburgh Festival by storm, playing to sold out crowds and garnering unanimous critical acclaim. Now, the most talked about production on the international theater circuit hits U.S. shores in the first of only two U.S. engagements.

Based on recent interviews with former soldiers who served in Iraq, this taut and uncompromising piece of theater tells the story of Scotland’s legendary 300 year-old Black Watch regiment, whose disbandment was announced in 2004 just before its 800-man battalion replaced some 4,000 U.S. Marines in one of the bloodiest areas of Iraq. Magnified by recent events, Black Watch reveals the harsh reality of the “war on terror” and its impact on those who serve.

“John Tiffany’s storming, heart-stopping production is all disorienting blood, guts and thunder, threaded through with the history and songs of the regiment and intercut with lyrical moments of physical movement, like some great dirty ballet of pulsating machismo and terrible tenderness” [The Guardian]

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On Saturday, September 22,The British Council and UCLA Live presented a moderated panel with representatives from the military and media, writers and artists discussing the thought-provoking themes from Black Watch such as the responsibility of the media in reporting about war, the role of art as a communicator and interpreter of real-life experiences and the often contrasting ideas of war and patriotism in the U.K. and U.S.

The panel included:
Jason Berg, ex-U.S. Marine who served in Iraq and Afghanistan and a former Marshall Scholar.

Robert Fox, defense correspondent for London’s Evening Standard, commentator for the BBC and Sky News and author.

Howard LaFranchi, diplomatic affairs writer for The Christian Science Monitor in Washington covering U.S. foreign policy since August 2001.

John Tiffany, Associate Director (New Work) for the National Theatre of Scotland and Director of Black Watch.