VOA常速英语2007年-'Black Watch' Tells Story of Scottish Troops in

By Carolyn Weaver¹
New York City
12 November 2007
 

A docudrama play from Scotland’s new National Theatre, about Scottish soldiers in Iraq, garnered² accolades³ from critics and a sold-out run during its recent tour in New York.  “Black Watch,” by Gregory Burke, takes its title from the name of a 270-year-old Scottish regiment⁴.  The New York Times called the play “one of the most richly human works of art to emerge from this long war.”

“Black Watch” tells the story of a group of young soldiers, both during their service in Iraq and afterwards. Playwright⁵ Gregory Burke based the play on his interviews with veterans at a pub in Fife, Scotland, where they met to drink and play pool and darts⁷ -- and to recall for the playwright, reluctantly, their experiences in Iraq.

 “He knew these guys, they were real people for him,” says Susan Feldman, artistic⁸ director of St. Ann’s Warehouse⁹, where “Black Watch” toured, “but then he transformed them and their testimony¹⁰, and turned it into art.” 

She said she leapt at the chance to bring the play to her theater in Brooklyn. “I think it's got a fantastic immediacy to it, I think it tells the truth, it has a truth to it, it's very, very theatrical¹¹. And the fact that theater could achieve so much reality about such a difficult topic as war, I thought was really important."

The play uses music, video, and choreographed¹² movement as well as dialogue to sketch¹³ the history of the Scottish regiment. At one point, an actor is dressed and undressed like a mannequin in the Black Watch uniform as it evolved over several centuries of wars around the world.  He narrates¹⁴ the history through his costume changes, at one point explaining the origins of the regiment’s most recognizable emblem¹⁵. “Somewhere along the way, George the Third decided¹⁶ we deserved to wear a red vulture feather in our hats: the red hackle."

 “Black Watch” moves from that fabled¹⁷ history of the regiment to the 2004 deaths of three Black Watch soldiers in a suicide bombing in Iraq. It suggests that Scottish leaders sent the unit to Iraq for political reasons. The soldiers themselves doubt the purpose of their mission.

 “You're not really doing the job that you're trained for,” one of the soldiers tells a TV reporter in Iraq. “I mean, it's not like they're a massive threat to you or your country, you're not even defending your country. You’re invading their country.”

But the soldiers, young men from working-class backgrounds, say they didn’t enlist¹⁸ out of high ideals, anyway. They say they joined to fight – and that they fight for each other. “Not for my government, not even for Scotland,” the soldiers say in the play.  “I fought for my regiment,” says one. “I fought for my platoon,” says another. “I fought for my mates,” says the last one.

Two American veterans, both of whom have written books about their experiences in Iraq, spoke¹⁹ at a recent post-play discussion at the theater. They said that “Black Watch” could have been written about their own units. “I think the experience is pretty universal,” said Jason Christopher Hartley, a member of the New York Army National Guard. “Their vocabulary is different, their accents, they serve in different places, there's more minutiae-type stuff that's different, but the core of it is the same,” he said.

His fellow vet⁶ and Guard member Paul Rieckhoff, who also runs an organization http://www.iava.org/ advocating for American veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, agreed. “I found it to be incredibly powerful, and like nothing else I’ve seen so far having to do with the Iraq war,” he said. “What really hit home for me was the scenes of them in a bar when they come home, and they’re playing pool, and playing darts, and trying to process their experience, and kind of joking around about times they had in Iraq, but just trying to internalize and deal with having been in a war. Which is something that all veterans face coming home, and have as long as there’s been warfare²⁰.”

In “Black Watch” the lives and deaths of Iraqis on the other side of the checkpoints are never seen. That disconnect -- because of language, fear and culture -- is part of the reality of Iraq for the Scottish soldiers, as it is for the Americans. “Black Watch,” directed by John Tiffany, premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2006 to critical acclaim²¹.

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 garnered   

v.收集并（通常）贮藏（某物），取得，获得( garner的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith gradually garnered a national reputation as a financial expert. 史密斯先生逐渐赢得全国金融专家的声誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals. 他的提议得到了广泛的支持。 来自辞典例句

3 accolades   

n.（连结几行谱表的）连谱号( accolade的名词复数 )；嘉奖；（窗、门上方的）桃尖拱形线脚；册封爵士的仪式（用剑面在肩上轻拍一下）

参考例句：

• Unlike other accolades for literature which tend to value style or experimentation. 有别于其他偏重风格活实验性的文学奖项。 来自互联网
• Build your trophy room while amassing awards and accolades. 建立您的奖杯积累奖项和荣誉。 来自互联网

4 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

5 playwright   

n.剧作家，编写剧本的人

参考例句：

• Gwyn Thomas was a famous playwright.格温·托马斯是著名的剧作家。
• The playwright was slaughtered by the press.这位剧作家受到新闻界的无情批判。

6 vet   

n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查

参考例句：

• I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
• Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。

7 darts   

n.掷飞镖游戏；飞镖( dart的名词复数 )；急驰，飞奔v.投掷，投射( dart的第三人称单数 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• His darts trophy takes pride of place on the mantelpiece. 他将掷镖奖杯放在壁炉顶上最显著的地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I never saw so many darts in a bodice! 我从没见过紧身胸衣上纳了这么多的缝褶！ 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

9 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

10 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

11 theatrical   

adj.剧场的，演戏的；做戏似的，做作的

参考例句：

• The final scene was dismayingly lacking in theatrical effect.最后一场缺乏戏剧效果，叫人失望。
• She always makes some theatrical gesture.她老在做些夸张的手势。

12 choreographed   

v.设计舞蹈动作( choreograph的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• There was some carefully choreographed flag-waving as the President drove by. 总统的车经过时，人们按精心编排的动作挥舞着旗帜。
• Achim had choreographed the dance in Act II himself. 阿希姆自己设计了第2幕的舞蹈动作。 来自辞典例句

13 sketch   

n.草图；梗概；素描；v.素描；概述

参考例句：

• My sister often goes into the country to sketch. 我姐姐常到乡间去写生。
• I will send you a slight sketch of the house.我将给你寄去房屋的草图。

14 narrates   

v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It narrates the unconstitutional acts of James II. 它历数了詹姆斯二世的违法行为。 来自辞典例句
• Chapter three narrates the economy activity which Jew return the Occident. 第三章讲述了犹太人重返西欧后的经济活动。 来自互联网

15 emblem   

n.象征，标志；徽章

参考例句：

• Her shirt has the company emblem on it.她的衬衫印有公司的标记。
• The eagle was an emblem of strength and courage.鹰是力量和勇气的象征。

16 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

17 fabled   

adj.寓言中的，虚构的

参考例句：

• For the first week he never actually saw the fabled Jack. 第一周他实际上从没见到传说中的杰克。
• Aphrodite, the Greek goddness of love, is fabled to have been born of the foam of the sea. 希腊爱神阿美罗狄蒂据说是诞生于海浪泡沫之中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 enlist   

vt.谋取(支持等)，赢得；征募；vi.入伍

参考例句：

• They come here to enlist men for the army.他们来这儿是为了召兵。
• The conference will make further efforts to enlist the support of the international community for their just struggle. 会议必将进一步动员国际社会，支持他们的正义斗争。

19 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

20 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

21 acclaim   

v.向…欢呼，公认；n.欢呼，喝彩，称赞

参考例句：

• He was welcomed with great acclaim.他受到十分热烈的欢迎。
• His achievements earned him the acclaim of the scientific community.他的成就赢得了科学界的赞誉。