Like a fawning fan, I went last night to see ‘Black Watch’ again. My father is visiting at the moment so ostensibly, the trip was in his honour. Although I’m almost tempted to go and see it again before the run ends but I suspect it’s sold out.

It’s a great script but a truly magic production. I have many favourite bits. A pool table is left centre-stage and suddenly a knife cuts up through the felt, slices through it and a couple of soldiers unfold themselves out of the belly. There’s a lovely moment where the post arrives and each soldier reads their own correspondence and silently acts out the contents. Obviously to some suitably melancholy music.

And the marching / piping sequence at the end is almost enough to persuade you to enlist. Although it did seem to have been trimmed rather from the version I saw at the start of the run. I believe that was the only portion of the show that the critics felt was rather self-indulgent. So perhaps they have curtailed it as a consequence. I would happily have watched a little more marching actually. And I feel sure that the whole sequence is a homosexual’s dream. But anyway.

The acting was excellent. Music / lighting / scaffolding set and multimedia components just superb. Of course it made me want to be a real director.

And very satisfyingly, Sean Connery led the standing ovation at the end.