Leeds 2023 and National Youth Theatre's site-specific production about climate change

Nest grew out of the NYT’s three-year art and activism project Melt which has been specifically looking at stories connected with the climate crisis. “This whole idea stems first and foremost from our young and talented cohort of 17-30-year-olds – the climate crisis is present in their hearts and minds and fears every day,” says Paul Roseby, chief exec and artistic director of NYT who is directing the piece.

"Melt began in the early days of Covid in 2020. We were working with 200 young people on Zoom to create digital content for a virtual festival and we created a piece called Last Harvest which was looking at the end of the century when the UK’s food supplies had run out because of the climate crisis. That was very much informed by work we did with Hull University as an academic partner, myth-busting and highlighting some of the statistics.”

As lockdown restrictions eased, the company were able to present the piece to a live audience, socially-distanced in the open air. “We performed Last Harvest in a field in Shropshire and it was very well received,” says Roseby. They then took the production to COP26, the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference held in Glasgow, where it also got very positive feedback.

“After that we created a play called On the Edge which some of the Leeds 2023 producers came to see and we started thinking about the next step for Melt,” says Roseby. “We went to visit some sites in Leeds and St Aidan’s was just perfect because it is about regeneration and about hope.” Overlooking the wetlands, meadows, reedbeds and woodland is an impressive looking piece of industrial history – the largest preserved walking dragline excavator in Western Europe. “It is incredible – it looks like a lost ship and stands there as a memorial to the site’s coal mining past, on land that has now become a home for nature for people to enjoy. I thought this is a great place to tell a big epic story.”

Everything about the piece is large scale – there is a cast of around 150, plus 20 young people in backstage roles. Many of those involved were recruited from across Yorkshire through an open call, in partnership with Leeds Playhouse, and the production also features participants from NYT’s associate company Compass Collective who work with young refugees and asylum seekers. Working with a company of that size in an outdoor space dedicated to nature and wildlife has thrown up some interesting challenges. “We have to respect the habitat of the birds and as a theatre director I have never had to think about that before,” says Roseby, laughing. “So that has been a learning curve for me but it is also what’s so great about art – you work with what you have got and the restrictions help to inform the story.”

He says that it was also important to the company and to the writer Emma Nuttall that the mining heritage in Yorkshire is respected in the storytelling. “You can’t demonise coal – we have to be subtler than that and more collaborative in working together to mitigate the increase in global temperatures. I think the difficulty is that often in relation to climate change we all feel a bit powerless.” The narrative of Nest seeks to overturn that sense of powerlessness through its positive messaging around both collective and individual responsibility. “Overall it will be a very uplifting experience for audiences,” says Roseby. “I would like people to take away a sense of joy, hope and respect for the next generation. Our future can be better than we might think – we just have to keep listening, talking and working together.”

Nest is at St Aidan’s RSPB Nature Park, September 5-9. Tickets leeds2023.co.uk