Theater Review of Black Watch
3 out of 4 Stars
We’ve got something to confess. Exactly one year ago, we forgot to review a show that otherwise received nearly unanimous acclaim. It came courtesy of the National Theater of Scotland and was performed briefly at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Dumbo, which is a large playing area rather than a traditional theater. Due to popular demand, it is now making a return engagement.
“Black Watch,” which is named after a 300-year-old Scottish regiment that only recently disbanded, is based directly on interviews with Black Watch veterans who served in Iraq. Gregory Burke’s play claims to be the first piece of theater about the war to tell the story from the point of view of the soldiers.
At first glance, “Black Watch” appears to be yet another confessional docudrama full of flashbacks about life in the army. In the first scene, a male journalist approaches a group of ex-soldiers in a sports bar and asks to speak with them for a theater project. The rowdy males are less than happy to find that their interviewer is not a gorgeous blonde.
Though no coherent story or distinctive characters emerge out of “Black Watch,” what really makes John Tiffany’s production unique is its violently theatrical mix of multimedia and video, song and dance, panoramic historical sequences, hash sounds, blinding lights, bagpipe music, military drills and physical movement.
Its versatile 10-man ensemble aims to present both the soldier’s juvenile, pornography-obsessed behavior in addition to their frustrations, fears and confusion as foreigners unaccustomed to the dangers of guerilla violence. Nearly every few minutes, the sound of a distant bomb or rocket attack is heard and the soldiers must fall to the ground in self-protection.
It’s surprising that nearly six years into the Iraq War, so few substantial plays have been written on the conflict. Though “Black Watch” is unlikely to stand up on paper alone and its “war is hell” thesis has been heard before, this extremely physical, nightmarish spectacle is definitely worth checking out.
St. Ann’s Warehouse, 38 Water St, 212-352-3101, $55-75. Tues-Sat 8pm, Sun 2pm. Thru Nov 30.
