Terry Pratchett's Nation at the National

Terry Pratchett's Nation at the National | reviews, news & interviews

Terry Pratchett's Nation at the National

Melly Still and Mark Ravenhill discuss bringing Terry Pratchett's parallel universe to the National Theatre

by Hilary WhitneyMonday, 23 November 2009

Gary Carr as Mau, Emily Taaffe as DaphneJohan Persson

Tomorrow sees the opening night of Terry Pratchett’s Nation at the National Theatre. Adapted by Mark Ravenhill and directed by Melly Still, it is the latest in what has become a tradition of epic end-of-year family extravaganzas at the National such as Coram Boy, which Still also directed, and War Horse. But although Pratchett is one of UK’s top selling authors, neither Still nor Ravenhill were familiar with Pratchett’s books until recently. “I was always a bit put off by the covers,” confesses Still. “I’d heard a couple of radio adaptations,” says Ravenhill, “which I enjoyed, but I wouldn’t have been the right adapter for any of the Discworld books.” So what is so different about Nation?

There’s something almost gladitorial about the Olivier. You know, ‘Let’s chuck 'em in and see if they get chewed up or not.

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