I feel like I've seen my first piece of truly Scottish theater tonight. The Black Watch is Scotland's best known regiment and the play switches between a pub in Fife to an armored wagon in Iraq. It was also the first play that really gave me a sense of war times. It was ridiculous to watch the character of a reporter ask these men in the pub, "What was it like to be fired at?" and, "How does it feel when someone you know is killed in the field?" and then flash over to Iraq to see a beautiful and terrible dance of death and blood. The piece was exceptional in it's ability to combine everything. There was fight choreography made into a dance, singing, video effects, comedy, tragedy, love, kilts, and a bagpiper all tied together seamlessly. It was a visceral, complex, and urgent piece of theatre that I feel privileged to have been allowed to watch because it gave me a window into the Scottish culture that would have otherwise been opaque.
