REVIEW: "Black Watch"

Folks, let’s be honest for a minute. Does the RZ really need to write a full and proper review for this show? Between it’s Edinburgh, world tour, and now Barbican productions, every critic, blogger, and their dog have written glowing raves (some twice) about Black Watch (whither the Whingers who felt that despite all the pieces being excellent the whole didn’t come together). Adding yet another rave here would seem masturbatory (look at me, I can rave too!) and forced, so he’ll keep this one short:

-Yes, it’s an accurate portrayal of the insanity surrounding active military life.
-Yes, they fucking curse a shitload of times.
-Yes, it’s absolutely brilliant.
-No, it doesn’t matter what the reviews were because the entire run sold out in advance.
-Yes, there is a queue for returns every day.
-No, the Barbican won’t mind if you’re in the first 10 or so people and steal a cafe chair to use.
-Yes, this is actually an entertaining and well made play.
-Yes, it’s really part of BITE, the most pretentious large-scale theatre line-up in London.

And there you have it.

Where: Barbican, Main Stage
When: Until 26 July, M-Sa @ 19:45, Th/Sa @ 14:00
How Much: £25
Concessions: For an altered-stage production at the Barbican? HA!
-------------------
RZ Unofficial “Worth Paying”: £25. Believe the hype.
RZ Other Notes: The RZ gives the Barbican a hard time in part because until Black Watch he finds the main stage to be a soulless bunker and has only found about a quarter (now around 40%) of the theatre programme he’d seen to be anything but disappointing or hideous. Much of this is due to his populist leanings in the theatre and the BITE programming staff’s desire to be anything but. The film programming is much more egalitarian, however, and the RZ likes the fact that there’s free wifi and recently discovered that the terrace cafe actually offers decent tea and cake, even if they expect an arm and a leg for it.