Black Watch

Girls’ Model School, Belfast Oct 27-31 8pm £22.50/£17.50 belfastfestival.com 028-90971197

Four years after its earth- shaking premiere in Edinburgh and two years since it sold out in Dublin, there are still plenty of people who have yet to see

Black Watch

. This magnificent show, scripted by Gregory Burke and directed by John Tiffany, helped establish the reputation of the National Theatre of Scotland, an institution that is as mobile as the storied Scottish regiment the show depicts.

A piece that fuses drama with documentary, dance with martial arts, and breath- taking spectacle with political heat, Black Watchfocuses on the regiment's last inglorious excursion to Iraq while seamlessly revisiting its history since 1739.

That legacy, an audience at the Ulster Bank Festival at Queen’s will recognise, includes 11 tours of Northern Ireland. One consequence of “the Golden thread” of tradition is that it can stitch into historical umbrage. In 2006, for instance, a Boston protest criticised the Black Watch for its role in both Northern Ireland and the US War of Independence. Now that’s holding a grudge.

Elsewhere in the festival are other returning tours, from Nic Green's Trilogy, Australian physical marvels Circa, and intimacy specialist Adrian Howells, balanced with homegrown new works such Ransom Productions' post-Troubles satire National Anthemby novelist Colin Bateman. The festival continues until Oct 30.

Can't see that? Catch this: 

The Beauty Queen of Leenane Theatre Royal, Waterford