Yesterday I saw my first HD satellite broadcast on a movie screen, the National Theatre’s production of Nation. I thought it would be like some of the plays I’ve seen in years past on PBS, but it was much, much better. I was impressed and would definitely go to something like this again. In fact, watching it made me wish the NT would do another revival of His Dark Materials (I saw the original production) so they could broadcast it worldwide too.
That said, I should say this production is pretty loosely based on the Terry Pratchett novel. I thought Gary Carr who played Mau was excellent, was very impressed with the water scenes, and quite enjoyed it while, at the same time, wished they’d not reduced the novel quite so drastically, minimizing certain themes and leaving some of the most profound ones out completely. For all that, I’m glad I went.
Here’s a taste of what I saw:
educating alice 