Nation
Terry Pratchett is one of the country’s most prolific authors, having penned a whole host of well known novels from the “Discworld” series as well as additional works that have cemented his name further. Since 1971 he has been churning out classic pieces of fiction, from his debut release “The Carpet People” to “Discworld” favourites “The Colour of Magic”, “Lords and Ladies” and “Thief of Time”.
But until recently he had not penned a non-“Discworld” novel since 1996 with the release of “Johnny and the Bomb”. However, whilst his output has been forced to slow down in recent years, he emerged in 2008 with a brand new novel entitled “Nation”, a story that sets itself in an alternative form of our own universe as two people from differing cultures must work together to survive.
It is this tale that has come together to form a new production for the stage of the Olivier National Theatre under the penmanship of Mark Ravenhill, who has created a masterful adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s source material. Ravenhill has contributed numerous productions for the National Theatre, including the “New Connections” series which aimed to attract teenagers to the theatre. The series included his plays “Totally Over You”, “Citizenship” and “Scenes from Family Life”. His other work includes “Ravenhill For Breakfast”, which encompassed the plays “The Cut”, “Shot/Get Treasure/Repeat” and “Mother Clap’s Molly House”.
With “Nation”, Pratchett presents a story set in a parallel 19th century during a time in the Pacific when a large tsunami tears through people’s lives. We are introduced to separate characters Mau and Daphne, the former living in a village destroyed by the tsunami and the latter involved in a shipwreck that traps her on an island in the South Pacific. It means that the pair come face to face and whilst they are from differing cultures and do not share a common language, they must learn to work together if they are to survive.
Together, they work to build a new nation, first of all learning to make a life on the island and eventually learning more about the world around them as Mau questions what he sees and Daphne learning to deliver a baby and milk a pig.
“Nation” is on the Olivier stage of the National Theatre.
