"Black Watch" Social Media Event at the Shakespeare Theatre

Naturally, the day I was going to hang out with some of the cast and crew of The National Theatre of Scotland's "Black Watch," the metro was a mess and my bus was running 25 minutes late.  When I finally boarded the bus, I Tweeted frantically with @ShakespeareinDC, asking if they'd still let me in if I got there after the 1115am deadline.  Fortunately, I was not the only one affected by the metro issues and was allowed in, even though I rushed through the door closer to 1130am.  After a few minutes of perusing the press packet, we were let into the theatre.  John Tiffany introduced himself as the director of the show, and gave a brief introduction to the scene we were about to see.  The scene, entitled "Fashion," is an astonishingly beautiful and creative way of getting in not only the long history of the Black Watch, but is also an opportunity to see the multitude of elaborate uniforms the soldiers wore through the years.  (John talks more about this scene with me in our interview, which you can listen to below!)  It's a wildly physical scene, and terribly memorable.

Next, we entered a pub in Scotland where the boys are hanging out, watching the match, and talking to the interviewer (albeit a little reluctantly).  This scene is charming in it's relatability (I so just made up that word) - Granty (Richard Rankin) asks the interviewer (Robert Jack, adorable in his gray sweater vest) if there will be actors playing them.  Yes, if there's a story, is the answer.  Naturally, the next question: "Who'll be playing me?" 

Granty, Cammy, and Rossco laugh at Stewarty and his ginger balls.

After the scenes, some of us blogger types were taken to a secret room (which Emily confirmed as a donor lounge) with weapons, roses, and an amazing clock.  John Tiffany soon joined us, as did some of the cast.  You can listen to the interview I did with John below!

(I did also speak with Ryan Fletcher and Scott Fletcher, and I'll put their interview in another post - blogger is having some issues with letting me upload that video.)

After the interviews, we were ushered back to the theatre for a brief Q&A with John, Ryan, Scott, Chris Starkie, and Robert Jack.

Scott Fletcher, Ryan Fletcher, John Tiffany, Robert Jack, Chris Starkie

Chris, who plays Stewarty, spoke about when the soldier on whom is character is based saw the show in Edinburgh.  He said that after the show he turned to his girlfriend and said, "Now do you understand why I wake up screaming at night?"  It sent a chill through the entire theatre.  John spoke about how it's our duty to see shows like this, because these people are out there, putting their lives on the line, and we need to know about them.

This show is life-altering, perspective-changing, and just all around heart-stoppingly good.  I'm so grateful that the Shakespeare Theatre gave us this opportunity to go behind the scenes with John and the boys.  It really gave me a whole new appreciation for the show and everything that went into it and still goes into it every performance.

I'm over on the left, wearing the ridiculously bright blue shirt.