Written and performed by award-winner PJ Vickers, Nation is a curious but rewarding play. Set in a distinctly unromantic and subtly lawless corner of Paris, it’s the story of a man who doesn’t really understand the world around him, yet somehow finds a way to navigate through. It feels like not much happens, but at the same time we witness the highest drama. It’s deftly written and convincingly performed – yet it’s only now, with the focus brought by writing this review, that I feel I’ve got an inkling of a message or a theme.
Nation is, first and foremost, a character study. There’s a hint of neurodivergence to the unnamed narrator, though that’s played relatively lightly: he has a tendency to repeat certain phrases, an inflexible approach to the rules, a single-minded focus on solving problems even when his solutions are self-evidently flawed. As the script and performance draw us slowly into his world, we come to like and understand him – to tune into his own internal logic, and to wish him the best in his plan to re-imagine his life.
Vickers’ script is also impeccably evocative of its setting, the Place de la Nation after which the play is named. We hear of grand monuments now caught in a snarl of traffic, and of the mix of people – from joggers to anarchists – who frequent this little patch of green. There’s protest in the air as well, a whiff of menace or even revolution, cementing the impression of a city and society experiencing an undefined yet dangerous decay.
But with no preamble to explain why we’re hearing this story, we have to take it on trust that there’ll turn out to be a point to it all. The narrative does indeed grow more consequential, and the stakes significantly higher, as the tale draws towards its close. But even so, I felt a little adrift at the end – unsure of where I’d been taken, and why I’d been taken there. A few more obvious thematic anchors might have helped me connect with what Vickers was aiming to say.
Or perhaps the goal is just to make us think: about the different ways we each perceive the world and its moralities, and about how those differences can bring strength but can also be abused. Whatever you take from it, Nation is vivid, quietly enjoyable, well-written and believably performed. Spend an hour in Vickers’ Paris, and see how it speaks to you.