CST Presents Black Watch 3/29-4/10

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) continues its celebrated role bringing the world's great theater companies to Chicago audiences with a World's Stage presentation of the National Theatre of Scotland's internationally acclaimed Black Watch March 29-April 10, 2011. An environmental, intensely physical production exploring the legendary Scottish regiment's valiant history and tour in Iraq, Black Watch is presented by CST at Chicago's Broadway Armory (5917 N. Broadway)-a space used for military training by the State of Illinois during World War I, and the only armory playing host to this visceral production through its 2011 tour. Tickets for Black Watch at Chicago's Broadway Armory (5917 N. Broadway) are $38-$45, with special discounts available for groups of 10 or more. Convenient public parking is available surrounding the Armory. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Box Office at 312.595.5600 or visit the Theater's website at www.chicagoshakes.com.

Named the "#1 Theatrical Event of the Year" by The New York Times and a "thrilling, challenging and masterful piece of work" by The Times of London, Black Watch has played sold-out engagements throughout the world including London, Toronto, New Zealand, Dublin, Glasgow, Australia and New York. The Washington Post calls the current 2011 tour an "astonishing" production that is "the theater's most ingenious portrait to date of the war in Iraq." In addition to four Laurence Olivier Awards for Best Director, Best Theatre Choreography, Best Play and Best Sound Design, Black Watch garnered the New York Drama Circle Award for Best Foreign Play in 2009.

Black Watch is an impassioned, urgent telling of a heroic Scottish regiment's tour in Iraq. Under Director John Tiffany's inventive staging, the production deftly interweaves events both past and present with a live musical score of war anthems and folk songs. Battles leap to heart-rending life, glorious bagpipes resound, and the intimate moments of soldiers' lives are laid bare as they discover what it means to make the journey home again. The National Theatre of Scotland's Chicago debut is presented by Chicago Shakespeare Theater in partnership with the Chicago Park District at its Broadway Armory. The Armory will bolster the production's dramatic military environment as it hurtles audiences from a pool room in Fife to a beleaguered armored vehicle in Iraq, based on playwright Gregory Burke's interviews with former soldiers. Powerful choreography for Black Watch is contributed by Steven Hoggett, co-founder and artistic director of London's Frantic Assembly, whose choreography for Green Day's American Idiot is now playing on Broadway.

The National Theatre of Scotland's Associate Director John Tiffany has lead the Theatre's artistic development team since its founding in 2006, commissioning and developing new pieces for the company. In addition to a Laurence Olivier Award, Tiffany's accolades for Black Watch include a Critics' Circle Directors Award and a South Bank Show Theatre Award. He has also directed the successful National Theatre of Scotland productions of Gagarin Way and Perfect Days, both winners of the Fringe First Award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Prior to his work with the National Theatre of Scotland, Tiffany was the associate director at Paines Plough, the United Kingdom's national theater of new plays, and served as the literary director for Scotland's Traverse Theatre.

Supported by the Scottish Government, the National Theatre of Scotland has been involved in creating 117 productions in 114 different locations since its launch in February 2006-many of which have played to great acclaim, including Black Watch and, most recently, Beautiful Burnout, which received a Fringe First Award at the 2010 Edinburgh Festival Fringe and transfers to St. Ann's Warehouse in New York this spring. The National Theatre of Scotland has no permanent building to call home, instead taking its productions throughout the country to existing venues from the majestic Royal Lyceum Theatre in Edinburgh to smaller site-specific community halls and schools. In addition to producing its own work in Scotland and touring abroad, the National Theatre of Scotland collaborates with individuals and other companies, widely supporting and fostering the talents of Scottish theater artists.

The cast of Black Watch includes Ross Anderson as Rossco, Cameron Barnes as Macca, Paul Higgins as Writer/Sergeant, Scott Fletcher as Kenzie, Jack Lowden as Cammy, Stuart Martin as Nabsy, Ian Pirie as Officer/Lord Elgin, Jamie Quinn as Fraz, Richard Rankin as Granty and Chris Starkie as Stewarty.

The production's creative team is rounded out by Associate Director of Music Davey Anderson, Set Designer Laura Hopkins, Costume Designer Jessica Brettle, Lighting Designer Colin Grenfell, Sound Designer Gareth Fry, and Video Designers Leo Warner and Mark Grimmer for Fifty Nine Productions Ltd.

Black Watch is presented by Chicago Shakespeare Theater at Chicago's Broadway Armory (5917 N. Broadway) March 29-April 10, 2011. Tickets are $38-$45 with special discounts available for groups of 10 or more. Convenient public parking is available surrounding the Armory. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Box Office at 312.595.5600 or visit the Theater's website at www.chicagoshakes.com.

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