BLACK WATCH

There is a truly great scene in the movie South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, where, in preparation for an attack on Canada, the US forces are divided into platoons.  One particular platoon is made up entirely of the black population of South Park.  This particular platoon would be the first in to the war zone and act as a blanket for the rest of the invasion, in a military attack titled 'Operation Get Behind the Darkies'.  When asked by the character Chef of whether he had heard of the Emancipation Proclamation, the General leading the invasion replies that he 'doesn't listen to hip-hop'.

Cutting satire, naturally, is so because it has an element of truth to it.  Black Watch, currently playing at The Barbican, is a play by Gregory Burke originally written for the National Theatre of Scotland.  Based on interviews with former soldiers, it tells the true story of the titular regiment of the British Army, based in rural Scotland, and that has its roots in the ancestry of professional soldiers from the Fife and Tayside regions.  Under a centre of political controversy, Black Watch was commandeered by the US Army and relocated to front-line Fallujah in an area known as the 'Triangle of Death', where they subsequently came under sustained insurgent attacks.

So not a barrel (excuse the pun, entirely unintentional) of laughs then.  It is, though, a powerful play that has in common much with the political activism that has seen a trend in twenty-first century theatre, led in part by the Tricycle Theatre.  Winner of manifold awards (including Olivier Awards for Best New Play and Best Director), this, more than most other events in London, is something to see.

Black Watch is at The Barbican, London, until 22 January, 2011.