NATION @ Summerhall

The effective simplicity of performance is no small feat. This simplicity is central to the mode of storytelling in the meticulously executed theatre piece NATION. The plot’s storyteller, audience and characters are constantly referred to in the third person, manipulating the story into a feature of the piece as opposed to being the piece itself. Performer Sam Ward fixes a stare as intense as the shrill noises that initiate the show. It is a stare of conviction, yet also of mystery. It is one which both guides and unnerves the audience. It encapsulates the chokehold that the show puts one in, and the cathartic replication of life in which one recognises oneself.

It is a piece which humbles an audience through its sobriety of presentation. Its harsh yet precise lighting, sonorous sounds and Ward’s confident rhythm cooperate to ironically produce an intimidating portrayal of reality. This horror stems from the mystery of reality and imagination that the piece summons through identifying and interacting with the unknown. Tension pervades the space.

At its heart, NATION is concerned with collective identity. Its story constitutes its characters and the audience’s imaginations, and it effectively creates a people – a 'nation' – out of its story. The fragmentation of this unity becomes gradually more recognisable. The audience is asked to ‘imagine a town’s high street’ from the beginning. Certainly, each audience member imagines their distinct version of a high street. This is a small but reflective example of the triggers that this piece pulls to invoke the chaos of difference amongst what is seemingly a homogenous experience. The unified nature of collective identity and the threat of difference exist alongside one another, just as humour and tragedy do. However, NATION asks us to consider which outlives the other.

---

NATION, Summerhall (Roundabout), daily until 26 Aug, 10.30am and 21 Aug, 2.40pm, £17