UK's National Theatre's NATION Gets International Broadcast on 230 Screens, 1/30

Terry Prachett's NATION, filmed live at the National Theatre in London, will be broadcast by satellite to cinemas worldwide on January 30th. NATION is the third play in the pilot season of NT Live, the National's ground-breaking initiative which launched in June with the hugely successful broadcast of Phedre with Helen Mirren, which was seen by 50,000 people in 19 countries around the globe. NATION is based on a novel by Terry Prachett and adapted Mark Ravenhill and will be broadcast in over 60 UK cinemas outside of London, as well as 170 venues around the world, including venues in the United States, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Scandinavia and continental Europe. 

A parallel world, 1860. Two teenagers thrown together by a tsunami that has destroyed Mau's village and left Daphne shipwrecked on his South Pacific island, thousands of miles from home. One wears next to nothing, the other a long white dress; neither speaks the other's language; somehow they must learn to survive. As starving refugees gather, Daphne delivers a baby, milks a pig, brews beer and does battle with a mutineer. Mau fights cannibal Raiders, discovers the world is round and questions the reality of his tribe's fiercely patriarchal gods. Together they come of age, overseen by a foul-mouthed parrot, as they discard old doctrine to forge a new Nation.

The cast features David Ajala as Milo, Gaye Brown as Grandmother, Gary Carr as Mau, Paul Chahidi as Cox, Lorna Gayle as Marisgala, Michael Mears as Polegrave, Al Nedjari as Foxlip, Nicholas Rowe as Father, Sirine Saba as Cahle, Craig Stein as Pilu, David Sterne as Captain Roberts, Emily Taaffe as Daphne, Jason Thorpe as Milton, and an ensemble consisting of Elaine Claxton, Adrian Decosta, Mike Denman, Nancy Wei George, Howard Gossington, Tony Hasnath, Rob Hastie, Michelle Lukes, Nick Malinowksi, Itxaso Moreno, and Gurpreet Singh.

Following His Dark Materials, Coram Boy and War Horse, the National stages Mark Ravenhill's exhilarating adaptation of Terry Pratchett's latest witty and challenging adventure story.

A sneak peak trailer of the production is available for viewing at www.ntlive.com.

NT Live performances are filmed live at the National Theatre in high definition and broadcast via satellite to over 330 cinemas and performing arts centres around the world, live in Europe and some US cities, and time-delayed in countries further afield. The performances at the National are nominated in advance to allow cameras greater freedom in the auditorium. NT Live screenings in international venues, including the USA, Canada, Australia, South Africa, Scandinavia and Europe, are supported by Travelex, the world's foreign exchange and business payments specialist.

"The hugely enthusiastic reaction of audiences around the world to the NT Live broadcast of Phèdre was thrilling," says NT Director Nicholas Hytner. "I'm confident that we have pioneered a new genre: not quite live theatre, certainly not cinema, but an exciting approximation of the real thing whose potential reach is limitless. It means we can reach tens of thousands of people in addition to our work in London and on tour." The next two plays in the pilot season will be Nation, based on a novel by Terry Pratchett, adapted by Mark Ravenhill, to be filmed on 30 January 2010 (tickets on sale from September); and Alan Bennett's new play The Habit of Art with Michael Gambon, Alex Jennings and Frances de la Tour, on 22 April 2010.

The National Theatre, founded in 1963, and established on the South Bank of the River Thames in London in 1976, has three theatres - the Olivier, the Lyttelton and the Cottesloe. It presents an eclectic mix of new plays and classics, with seven or eight productions in repertory (sharing the stages) at any one time. Actors often appear in more than one play during a season: for example, Michelle Terry alternated her role as Helena in All's Well with a leading role in a new play, England People Very Nice. The National aims constantly to re-energise the great traditions of the British stage and to expand the horizons of audiences and artists alike, and aspires to reflect in its repertoire the diversity of the nation's culture. With its extensive programme of Platform performances, backstage tours, foyer music, exhibitions, and free outdoor entertainment the National recognises that the theatre doesn't begin and end with the rise and fall of the curtain. By touring - and now, NT Live - it shares its work with audiences in the UK and abroad. The first NT Live season aims to capture the diversity of the National's work: a classic tragedy, a Shakespeare, a family show (Nation) and a new play.

For more information, visit www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/ntlive.

To post a comment, you must register and login.