The soldiers who don't know what they're dying for

John Taffany's terrific production, with thrilling choreography by Stephen Hoggett, is their own version of the Tattoo, the military show parade that takes place every year at the Edinburgh Festival.

The Barbican has been refigured to provide the company with a traverse stage.

The actors started without a script. There was just a series of interviews with former servicemen by Gregory Burke, plus some traditional songs.

The soldiers had made it clear to him that they were not fighting for the government or Scotland. They were fighting for their regiment, their company, their platoon and for their mates.

Eight hundred men from the Black Watch were posted to "the triangle of death" in Iraq to replace 4,000 US troops.

The men's main complaint was that they didn't know what they were dying for. They didn't think that the government knew what it was doing.

They wanted to fight as soldiers. They didn't want to be a police force, having to face suicide bombers, mortar attacks and ambushes daily and not being allowed to fight back.

I could complain, says one of their commanders, but nobody would listen.

The history of the Black Watch is told through one actor who is treated as a tailor's dummy by the rest of the cast as he speaks. He is dressed and undressed in the changing uniform over a 300-year period. The sequence is an amazing display of physical co-ordination.

The actors, a fine ensemble, have to be able to sustain the 110 minutes in which they are constantly getting in and out of their uniforms and doing everything at the double.

Taffany's production is not only a theatrical success but also carries a huge political punch.

The people who need to see this production most are the politicians.

Plays until July 26. Box office: (020) 7638-8891.

ROBERT TANITCH