Theater à la international

The UCLA Live’s sixth annual International Theatre Festival opens with the U.S. premiere of Gregory Burke’s Iraq war epic, “Black Watch.” Presented by the National Theatre of Scotland, this politically charged hit of the 2006 Edinburgh Festival is based on recent interviews with soldiers from Scotland’s legendary 300-year-old Black Watch regiment -- ironically disbanded in 2004, the same week its 800-man battalion was deployed to replace 4,000 U.S. Marines in one of the bloodiest areas in Iraq.

The festival continues with “medEia,” a multimedia, postmodern take on the ancient Greek tragedy “Medea,” presented by Amsterdam’s experimental theater group Dood Paard (Dead Horse). The text, spoken in “Euro-English,” is interlaced with songs from the Doors, Twisted Sister, Public Enemy and other American and British pop groups.

* “Black Watch”: Freud Playhouse, UCLA, 405 Hilgard Ave., L.A. Opens 8 p.m. Wednesday. Runs 8 p.m. Tuesdays to Fridays, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 7 p.m. Sundays; ends Oct. 14. $38 and $46. (Contains mature language, loud explosions and strobe lighting.)

* “medEia”: Macgowan Little Theater, UCLA. Opens 8 p.m. Wednesday. Runs 8 p.m. next Thursday to Sept. 22 and 7 p.m. Sept. 23. Ends Sept. 23. $32. (310) 825-2101; www.uclalive.org.