The Blackwatchers

Upon finishing Black Watch I feel the same as many classmates. I might just be reading three war pieces in a row or a two journalist vs. soldier pieces back to back, but I can't say I'm super excited to see this play. The accent of course will be a big payoff, as I definitely have not been doing it any sort of justice in my own head. I'm curious to the length of the play because it basically seems like about 45 minutes of really short scenes kind of randomly slapped together.

Give me a Beat


There seems to be a lot of diving around and things exploding constantly which could be really funny or really pathetic in a live performance - we'll see. The scene where they change the uniform while giving a history of the regimen could be pretty cool visually, especially after seeing pictures on Matt's blog.

Beat it, Beat it


Can I ask why he makes such a point of the American Revolutionary War? I mean they lost right? But he seems to belabor the point as a particular sense of pride. Other confusing points included the scene with Lord Elgin. Where did this guy come from? I read it as some kind of weird ghost/apparition appearing from the past - kind of like a Christmas Carol? I might have completely missed the boat on that one.

Beat Box



Beat - yeah so what kind of beat is this? A drum? - cause that might get pretty annoying. There is also a lot of music and singing? or are those just poems? It seems very ambitious in terms of piecing lots of strange elements together. And the story is basically just about three guys getting blown up by a suicide bomber and their buddies talking to a reporter about it in a pub?

One of the more interesting parts of the play was the argument over opinions on the Americans in the war. The brief discussion of peacekeeper vs. protector vs. invader was also insightful. I can see how the play makes these and some other valid points/arguments about the war in Iraq and war in general, and probably does it in a more intelligent and eloquent way than Jarhead or Shooting War, but after having them beat into our conscience for the last three weeks it seems slightly less than profound.

I leave you with two questions -

Does it make any sense to put bright red fuzzy balls on top of a camouflage uniform?

Is anyone else picturing Max Fischer's production of Platoon in the movie Rushmore?


BS