Nation 2009

Following His Dark Materials, Coram Boy and War Horse, the National Theatre's latest spectacular family production is an exhilarating adventure story of survival and self-discovery based on a novel by Terry Pratchett.



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.



Live music, thrilling dance and spectacular puppets combine to bring to life the spectacular and surprising world of Terry Pratchett's Nation on the National Theatre stage.