It is not the kind of topicality Sam Ward would have wished for, but the current far-right riots in towns in England and Northern Ireland give his storytelling show a chilling pertinence. Staged by his own YESYESNONO company, Nation asks us to imagine an ordinary town, not too big, not too small, where everyone knows each other and nothing unexpected happens. Except when it does and a bloodied body is found in the town centre. Community cohesion cracks.
The liberal-minded people who thought they shared the same values as their neighbours discover how quickly fear can flourish into hate. Under threat, their fellow citizens victimise the outsider.
