On our last trip to NYC, we saw the excellent play, Black Watch at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn. The production was brought to New York last year from Scotland's National Theatre, and it has returned for a second run. The show is based on interviews with former soldiers who served in Iraq as part of the legendary Black Watch regement. Viewed through the eyes of a select group of soldiers, the play explores the male comradery and bravado implicit in being part of such a regiment, what it means to be part of the war on terror, and what it means to make the journey home again. 
It's hard to describe the uniqueness of this soldier's-eye-view of the Iraq war. Using this large warehouse space, the action moves seamlessly between interview scenes in a pub and real-time scenes in Iraq employing an incredibly creative mix of multimedia effects, choreographed movement, regimental folk songs, military processions, and live bagpipe music. The young men who play the soldiers are exceptional in their physicality and also in portraying the soldiers' emotional vulnerability underneath all their swearing and bragging. This production is a really compelling theater piece, and we recommend it highly. It is both a testament to all the brave young men who have been at war, and a condemnation of the questionable politics that sends them to war. I only wish that Bush would be forced to sit through several performances . . .
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