Black Watch

Never mind the introductions'the National Theatre of Scotland's Black Watch is an outstanding, unmissable production of the kind that doesn't come along very often.

Every single element, from the script to the performances, the sound to the set, works in perfect harmony to create an unforgettable tribute to the famous Scottish regiment. That's certainly not to say that this is a rose-tinted account, however, and it's by no means pro-war either.

Brian Ferguson heads a uniformly excellent all-male cast of ten, who play soldiers on duty in Iraq and in the pub back home as well as politicians, journalists'and a writer researching a play about the Black Watch.

Fife-born writer Gregory Burke, whose Gagarin Way stormed the Fringe four years ago, gamely sends himself up by portraying the middle-class playwright as something of a wide-eyed wimp, but in reality he has used interviews with soldiers past and present to create a compelling, boundary-shirking piece of theatre that is profoundly moving and frequently also very, very funny.

Traditional songs including The Gallant Forty Twa are performed in harmony to spine-chilling effect, and elsewhere the music is loud and cinematic, contrasting starkly with the sound of bombs dropping and the testosterone-fuelled banter. This is no Saving Private Ryan - Saving Some C*** Ryan would be closer to the mark.

It is through movement, rather than language, that we get to the hearts of the soldiers. These days stylish, choreographed scenes are frequently shoe-horned into dull productions, but synchronised movement is an area that soldiers know a thing or two about, and thanks to drill instructor training this cast does too.

Black Watch should settle once and for all the mutterings about the National Theatre of Scotland's lack of a 'home' venue. It's impossible to imagine a more perfect location than The Drill Hall to serve as social club, Iraq desert and, well, drill hall.

It's probably too early to say, but what the hell: if you see just one play at this year's Fringe, make it this one.