A nation is built by one man with nothing but a theatre and an audience?
What does it mean to be apart of a nation?
The newest avant-garde production from YESYESNONO, the award-winning company known for Five Encounters on a Site Called Craigslist and we were promised honey!, hits the Roundabout stage at Edinburgh Fringe. Simply titled Nation, this new piece will challenge what you know to be true.
Sam Ward features as the Storyteller, guiding the audience through the piece with nothing much more than the power of his voice with an uncanny ability to hold the room in the palm of his hand. He leads us into the world of a small, unassuming town, one which is soon thrown into disarray when a woman lets an undisclosed stranger into her home. From then on, things begin disappearing, changing the face of the town bit by bit. It is how the people of the town react that will determine who they are.
We are immediately involved in the tapestry of this place. Audience members are given the roles of baker, bank manager, husband, dog, situating anyone within the illusory world that Ward creates. Delving into themes of nationalism and what it is that makes a fictional concept of a nation hold such weight, the play forces you to confront our own biases and prejudices.
A triumph of the power of theatre and what the magic of people in a room can do, Nation is a thoroughly captivating production from YESYESNONO.