Not until the very end, when all the performers were left exhausted after putting their hearts and souls into 110 uninterupted minutes of exhilarating drama, were the audience able to stand and show their appreciation.

Wonderfully innovative artistic techniques are used to tell this true Scottish soldiers’ account of their time serving in the famed ‘Black Watch’ Highland Regiment during the current Iraq War .

Like a time portal, the troops burst from a pool table in the pub where they tell their story and into the midst of the conflict.

And monitors in the corners of the theatre, which is organised to resemble a military parade ground, offer an enhanced perspective of events.

But the bodies and voices of the expertly trained cast, supported by a powerful and vivid soundtrack, provide the most incisive dramatic tools as they move, dance and sing their way through the hypnotic narrative .

A montage of particular mesmerism involved the soldiers using sign language to portray their emotions of receiving letters from home.

Another was a quick-fire history lesson in which the superb Paul Rattray, as the lead narrator Cammy, is moved about the stage and changed in and out of the regiment’s different uniforms from the 18th century to present day.

Gregory Burke’s script ties the piece together and, though not for the easily offended, has all the gallows humour and uncompromising realism of Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting.

And although his work suggests that the camaraderie and honour associated with serving in renowned military regiments may be fading due to the nature of modern and terrorist warfare, the heritage and brave legacy of the Black Watch is in safe hands with the Royal Theatre of Scotland. Oliver Williams

Verdict: Stunning