Friendship at heart of squaddie play success
This month marks the tenth anniversary of Black Watch, one of S c o t l a n d ’s m o s t celebrated stage plays.
Fife- born writer Gregory Burke based the National Theatre of Scotland play on the experiences of hardened exsquaddies who had served on the front line in Iraq with the legendary regiment.
He interviewed veterans of the bloody conflict – telling their personal stories through actors, using the soldiers’ own words.
But why has it become so popular? Roberta Doyle, a director of the NTS, suggested the “hyper local” play’s lasting appeal lay in its numerous references to the Black Watch’s traditional recruiting grounds.
She said: “The source material was so authentic and so resolutely Scottish.”
Despite the tough subject matter the play contained a positive message, she said.
“It is about a message of friendship – that they fight not for their country but for their mates,” she added. “That seems to be the universal message that audiences across the world have taken away.”
The multi- award- winning play, directed by John Tiffany, took the world byy storm after its first perfor-erformance at the Edinburghburgh Festival in 2006, becom-coming so popular it touredured the US the followingwing year.
Hollywood glitteratiterati queued up to offerffer endorsements andd the play won fourr prestigious Olivier Awards.
Then there were sold-out runs in New York and five- star reviews from Sydney to Chicago.
Doyle said: “In New York, we had cadets from West Point Academy and t h e y w e re amazed by it.
“When we were in Aberdeen, the current Black Watch came from Fort George in uniform.
“There were about 120 of them in their tam o’ shanters and red hackles. It was an extraordinary sight.” Black Watch follows the lives of a Sc Scottish battle group deployeddeplo to the lawless IraqiIraq province of North BabilBabi to support American troopstroop during the Battle of FallujahFallu in 2004.
TheTh production makes powerfulpowe use of flashbacks, choreography,chore haunting music and film footage to bring ththe soldiers’ memories to life, as they play pool and chat to a writer in a Fife bar.
TheT play won over audiencesau worldwide.
Doyle said the play became a phenomenon because of the audience’s reaction, while it earned the description “rock ‘n roll theatre”.
“It was something ver y immersive,” she said. “The sounds of mortars going off overhead and of helicopters taking off. It was completely authentic.”
Tearful mothers whose sons never returned from Iraq were among those watching at Rothes Hall in Glenrothes in 2008.
John Tiffany, who is currently directing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in London’s West End, described a meeting with them after the performance as one he would never forget.
“That was a real privilege,” he said.
“And seeing how the audience in Sydney responded in the same way as a Scottish one, realising it could transcend geographical boundaries. That was a wonderful feeling.”
Black Watch poignantly tells the story of soldiers on the front line in Iraq.
– The number of Black Watch soldiers from Fife killed in a suicide bomb attack in North Babil, Iraq, in 2004. The tragedy inspired one of the play’s most poignant scenes.
songs in the musical score.
– The number of awards picked up by Black Watch.
festivals have showcased the play around the world.
– The number of cast members between 2006 and 2013.
– The year the Black Watch was formed as the Gallant Forty Twa.
– The year Black Watch took the Edinburgh Festival by storm.
– The estimated number of people who have seen the production.