Gregory Burke's Black watch as an Iraq war drama

Footpath- 9 (2016) published a comprehensive article entitled State of Play (on Postwar British Theatre) by David Edgar, a well-known British dramatist. The article presents the development of the British theatre since 1945 through the five waves of playwriting. ‘The 9/11 bombings and the rise of Islamist militancy and terrorism, followed by western invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, led to a fifth wave of new writing’ [Edgar 2016: 38] in the early years of the 21^st century, the notable form of this writing was verbatim theatre (or testimony theatre) – ‘a series of edited dramatizations of significant trials and tribunals at the Tricycle Theatre in north London’ [Edgar 2016: 38]. Factual and interview-based plays gave rise to a more complex relationship between fact and fiction and gradually British playwrights ‘moved away from strict verbatim and towards more fictionalised treatments of the great issues of the age’ [Edgar 2016: 39]. The Oxford-Russia Fund project Contemporary British Literature in Russian Universities introduced our students to David Hare’s Stuff Happens (2004), a big polemical play about the events that led up to the 2003 Iraq War. David Hare’s examination of various reasons and effects of the controversial political decisions is deeply grounded in this complex dynamic connection of fact and fiction.

In my article I would like to discuss an Iraq war drama entitled Black Watch (2006) which is also associated with the political events and public debates of the first decade of the 21^st century and the general tendency in the theatre development. This play was written by Gregory Burke, a Scottish playwright and screenwriter from Rosyth, Fife, Scotland who was born in 1968. His first play that made him

famous was a comedy Gagarin Way (2001), the play is set in the factories of West Fife and revolves around a failed political kidnapping. His play Hoors opened at the Traverse Theatre in May 2009. His screenplay '71 (Warp/Crab Apple Films) was nominated for Best British Film and Best British Debut by a Director or Screenwriter at the 2015 British Academy Film Awards. His latest screen play Entebbe (The Working Title Films/StudioCanal) is inspired by the hijacking of an Air France flight in 1976 and the subsequent rescue mission. The film premier was at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival in 2018.

The play Black Watch bears the name of a famous Highland regiment in the British army, which is known as the Black Watch or Royal Highland regiment, and is centred on its deployment to Camp Dogwood during the Iraq War. In 2004 the regiment was preparing to return to the UK when the Americans called for assistance and the Black Watch was transferred from the south of Iraq to operate in the most dangerous area round Baghdad. The regiment was stationed in Camp Dogwood, near the town of Mahmudiyah, it was a desolate place where the regiment had to face constant mortar and rocket bombardment. The greatest danger was the tactic of suicide bombers and in early November 2004 the regiment suffered casualties. A suicide bomber drove his vehicle at Black Watch soldiers at a checkpoint, detonating the device. The troops then came under mortar fire. Three soldiers and one civilian interpreter were killed and eight soldiers were wounded. During the Baghdad deployment the Ministry of Defence planned a reorganization in which this historic regiment was to be merged with other Scottish units, the plans were announced in December 2004. The forthcoming changes caused much controversy, old soldiers and Black Watch supporters campaigned against those changes [Parker 2013].

In December 2004 the newly appointed Artistic Director and Chief Executive of the National Theatre of Scotland Vicky Featherstone asked Gregory Burke to monitor the controversial amalgamation of the Black Watch as many people feared that the regiment’s distinct identity was under threat [Burke 2010]. Supported by John Tiffany, the National Theater of Scotland’s Associate Director, he conducted interviews with servicemen and ex-servicemen from the historic Scottish regiment in a pub in Fife. This collaborative effort of Gregory Burke and John Tiffany resulted in Black Watch production that soon became ‘a Scottish theatrical phenomenon’ [Tiffany]. In August 2006 during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe the first public performance of Black Watch was staged in a disused drill hall. Later the play was performed to full houses, standing ovations, it got unanimous critical acclaim, won numerous awards. It was filmed by BBC Scotland to be screened on national television. In 2007 the play began a Scottish tour and was also performed to celebrate the reopening of the Scottish Parliament. It was the first National Theatre of Scotland production to perform internationally in North America, Australia, New Zealand and other numerous successful world tours [Burke 2010].

Black Watch is based on the interviews of the Black Watch soldiers and dramatization of their experience in Camp Dogwood and falls into some cleverly executed fictionalized scenes, their locations range from a pub in Fife to Central Iraqi desert (as my analysis is based on a Kindle version of the text, I will use the titles of these scenes as references and give them in italics in brackets). The play is often referred to as ‘a large-scale piece of political theatre’ [Burke 2010] and its main theme is closely connected with the general antiwar sentiment of the time and explores unpopular political decisions and their consequences. An extract from BBC Radio 4 programme Today is presented in the beginning of the play showing the main points of the public debate that form the background. It features John Humphrey, a broadcaster with a reputation of a forthright interviewer, the Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon and the Leader of the Scottish Nationalist Party, Alex Salmond, and recreates the atmosphere of controversy, concern and anger prevalent at the time. Some uneasy questions are asked: why the Americans needed 800 Scottish troops at a time when there were 130,000 US troops in Iraq, whether the deployment of Black Watch was just a military plea for help or whether it had something to do with the American presidential elections and thus had some political reasons. Alex Salmond openly criticizes the government over the deaths of the soldiers when he speaks about ‘the duplicity and chicanery of the politicians’ (Pub 1). The notorious promise of Tony Blair that the regiment would be home by Christmas is echoed in the scene of recruitment to the Black Watch during the World War I, when people joined the army and later died in the fronts of Europe for unclear political objectives (Camp Incoming, Pub 2). The critical attitude to the Iraq war is quite evident in the play, Britain’s involvement in Iraq as well as in Afghanistan is in ‘the biggest western foreign policy disaster’ (The Future), because this relatively short period of invasion is followed by a longer occupation which is definitely not worth human and financial costs and does not bring peace to the countries.

The email sequences add to our understanding of the controversy around the deployment of the Black Watch to the north of Iraq. They are presented by people who live these political decisions. Built as soliloquys these emails scenes give more profound insight into the hearts and minds of the military men and have documentary value. The regiment is moving north in order to assist the American assault on Falluja, their role is to control the roads stopping weapons and reinforcements going to the city. Some mistakes in intelligence have been made and there is little time to ‘develop appropriate tactics, techniques and procedures to deal with a much tougher environment’. Some statements sound like accusations directed against the British government: ‘I hope the government knows what it has got us into. I am not sure they fully understand the risks’ (Officer email 1). The second email scene deals with improper timing for the reorganization of the Black Watch and its amalgamation with other Scottish regiments and again is directed against the government. The officer sounds quite certain: ‘We will keep our name, most our uniform, and the Hackle. The essence of the regiment will continue.’ But he also worries that this reorganization will affect ‘the morale of those serving now’ and might ‘erode the bonds that connect the regiment to those places which have for the last three hundred years provided the men who make up the Black Watch’ (Officer email 2). The third email scene refers to the general atmosphere of their new area of military responsibility and explores a phenomenon of suicide terrorism that gives rise to a new type of enemy, who is experienced, well trained, dedicated and seeks glory in becoming a religious martyr. The bitter commentary is added that the soldiers of the Black Watch are unlikely to find their glory at home when they return from that unpopular war: ‘The controversy around this war means there’ll be no victory parade for us’ (Officer email 3).

This personal perspective of the email scenes is connected with the second theme that dominates the play. Black Watch is aimed at the consideration of the Iraq war through the eyes of those who have been there. ‘Welcome to the story of the Black Watch’ says Cammy, dressed in civil clothes, as he reluctantly addresses the audience in the opening of the play. The author seeks to explain what it really means to be a soldier in a battle zone, tries to explore the soldiers’ motives and analyze why they risk their lives and fight that unpopular war. He tells their real stories in their own words thus turning the play into a true ‘Soldier’s Story’.

The interview sequences open in a pool room in a Fife pub on a Sunday afternoon. The six main characters, former soldiers of the Black Watch (Cammy, Granty, Rosso, Stewarty, Macca, Nasby), are looking forward to meeting with a woman researcher, Sophie, who is going to conduct an interview with them. To their greatest disappointment she does not come, instead a male writer shows up. He wants to find out what it was like in Iraq, he wants to know about their experience, what it was like for them ‘For the soldiers. On the ground’. The fictitious writer fails to connect to the former soldiers and understand them, his questions are cliched, based on stereotypical representations of those serving in the army, they have nothing to do with their true wartime experience. A tense relationship between the middle-class writer and the rough working-class young men is intensified by the Scots accents, rude jokes and obscenities.

The fictionalized scenes set in Camp Dogwood make a powerful contrast with the pub interviews as they are always accentuated by gunfire and explosions. The true wartime experience is brought to life on stage. The first scene (Camp Incoming) shows the Scottish soldiers after their relocation from South Iraq. In their new base they face constant mortar and rocket attacks. Their words are full of caustic irony and accompanied by incessant bombardment. Then the soldiers are on mobile patrols in a Warrior where they have to stand the unbearable heat of the desert. A roadside bomb detonates and the armoured personnel carrier gets into a well-organized trap and ends up in a ditch, the commotion of the attack is rendered with black humour (On Patrol). The author constantly reminds us that the soldiers are at risk of losing their lives but they do their job and greet any possibility of danger with ‘gallows humour’. Sometimes words are unnecessary to convey powerful emotions and create a dramatic effect. The main ideas are communicated through various body movements and gestures to show what it means for the soldiers to get letters from their families, to keep in touch with their homes during the war (Blueys).

Violence, atrocities and horrors of the war are not obvious but are always never far from the surface in the play. The Scottish soldiers watch the US military destroy an Iraqi village, airstrikes, helicopters and artillery are pouring fire down to force Iraqis into submission. This massive bombardment and excessive use of force seems to be nothing but bullying when massive casualties among the civilian population are absolutely ignored. Cammy admits: ‘This isnay fucking fighting. This is just plain old-fashioned bullying like…’ and Rosco adds: ‘It’s good to be the bully’ ( Allies ). The term ‘bullying’ is repeated when the soldiers discuss the disproportion and imbalance in sets of equipment and ammunition between the Allied forces and Iraqi fighters. Though the play does not attempt to give an Iraqi angle on events it is possible to understand that the country gains little from the war and is actually traumatized by it when Cammy says: ‘We’re invading their country and fucking their day up’ ( Embeds ).

Some scenes create emotional tension that is contrasted with the dismissive dark humour prevalent in Black Watch . Thus, a heartbreaking scene deals with the immediate result of a suicide attack ( Casualties ), it follows a candid and brutal scene in the pub ( Pub 4 ), where the author while interviewing the former soldiers asks an uneasy question trying to find out what actually happens when some soldiers get killed and the ex-soldiers explain the meaning of some military codes for casualties. This is the moment when Stewarty attacks the writer and says: ‘Let me break your arm and see if you can write it dawn way a broken arm… If he wants tay ken about Iraq, he has tay feel some pain?’ ( Pub 4 ). The soldiers’ emotional pain becomes evident and turns into agony when the deaths of Fraz,

Kenzie and the Sergeant are depicted during the suicide attack ( Casualties ). The scene exploits the effect of slow motion and is heartfelt. Though the play portrays the soldiers as rude, obscene and sometimes violent and it is really difficult to sympathize with them for the most time, this scene makes you understand their loss and feel grief.

The third theme of the play is the history and the unique standing of the Black Watch in Scotland where it has always been ‘a crucial subject of identification for local communities’ [Boll 2013: 105, 148] because almost all its soldiers have been recruited from the same areas in Fife and Tayside. The history is important for the regiment to keep its identity, it is like the Golden Thread that ‘connects the past, the present, the future’ ( Pub 2 ), it holds the regiment together and gives it value and meaning, sustains pride: ‘It’s part of who we are, where we come from. It’s the reason you join up in the first place. The Golden Thread’ ( The Future ). The local roots of the regiment that existed in the Black Watch since the beginning make it possible to depict the regiment as a tribal group or a tribe. Cammy point out this fact directly when he says: ‘…we’ve been used in tribal conflicts… We’re a fucking tribe ourselves’ ( Fashion ). Brigadier Garry Barnett, the chairman of the Black Watch campaign committee and the colonel of the regiment until he retired in 2003, while analyzing the unique qualities of tribal regiments points out that ‘one of the reasons that they are so successful when they go to war is that the soldiers believe in their regiments. The links to their home areas and their families contribute to their operational success’ [Parker 2013]. In this case soldiers do not fight and die for a greater aim, any political cause or even their country. The expressive climax of the play is achieved through the Black Watch soldiers’ words stating their true reasons why they fought and died in the unpopular war in Iraq: ‘I fought for my regiment… I fought for my company… I fought for my platoon… I fought for my section… I fought for my mates’ ( The Future ). These words go beyond the romanticized idea of the wartime spirit of camaraderie, they are inspired by the sense of belonging to the Black Watch and the hope that its history will continue after its reorganization during the Iraq war in 2004.

The official web-site of the National Theatre of Scotland characterizes Black Watch as ‘a highly physical piece of political theatre’ as it greatly relies on the performers’ physical motion which is likely to affect the audience directly. The play incorporates the traditions of Scottish theatre based on ‘cabaret, spectacle, passion and honesty’ [Burke 2010]. It exploits numerous scenes that can be easily visualized that is why the text is supported by some production photographs and production notes to recreate them. One of these scenes sketches the entire history of the Black Watch regiment, it is turned into a fashion show with a catwalk decorated with a red carpet ( Fashion ). The play is interspersed with rousing songs and anthems associated with the Black Watch ( The Gallant Forty-Twa , The Forfar Sodger , Twa Recruiting Sergeants ). Back pipe music and parade marches bring to mind the Scottish military traditions ( Tattoo ), intensify the heightened finale that recreates the feeling of solidarity, camaraderie and celebrates the Black Watch ( Parade ).

Black Watch is ‘a period piece’ [Tiffany] deeply grounded in the controversy of the Iraq invasion and the reformation of the Black Watch, as it followed the actual political decisions and military actions in Iraq. At the same time, it deals with complex issues that go far beyond political spectrum and thus its humane tone finds resonance with diverse audiences.