The latest National Theatre Christmas show to have no mention of Christmas and to question religion is Mark Ravenhill’s adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s novel Nation.
It is set in a parallel world with a British Empire and where southern seas can rise into tsunamis. One wave nearly wipes out an island’s population and throws together the only survivor, a black boy called Mau (Gary Carr) and the white ship-wrecked, 13-year-old aristocratic Ermintrude (Emily Taaffe) from Wiltshire.
With refugees from surrounding islands they form a nation built on fairness, racial equality and natural justice and new rules that allow Ermintrude to change her name to Daphne. Should the new nation, led by Mau and threatened by cannibals, put their faith in science or God?
There is a bit of Peter Pan here, a bit of Alice there, and, as always with Melly Still’s productions, the story is told with awe-inspiring theatricality. The (projected) waves are truly towering and people are tossed in shark-infested waters like dolls.
For adults however, Pratchett’s story lacks the emotive subject of generations lost in the First World War in Michael Morpurgo’s War Horse, or the fascistic forces of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials — two previous successes at the National. Still, this is a must-see for families.
