Photo Flash: In Rehearsal with NYT's THE HOST

In the year that they celebrate 50 years of commissioning new writing for young people, National Youth Theatre (NYT) will also stage its most recent commission, The Host by Nessah Muthy (recently listed by BBC as a one-to-watch), directed by Zoe Lafferty(Queens of Syria), which will run at The Yard Theatre from 22 - 26 August. Commissioned in response to Brexit and the European refugee crisis, The Hostis set on a South East London council estate and tells the story of Rabea, a Syrian refugee as he forges new relationships with the family who have taken him in, all the while battling the memories of his journey to England.

In a digital response to The Host, a 360 video will be available at The Yard Theatre featuring real accounts of refugees living in the UK. Furthering the themes raised in the play, the film will explore the responses and opinions of refugees based on their real life experiences, discovering their point of view around the society and country which they now find themselves in. The video has been specially commissioned for NYT and is being created by NYT alumni Ben Carlin and Sean Hollands (2016 Bryan Forbes Director), founders of Epiphany VR.

National Youth Theatre's The Host will run at The Yard Theatre from 22 - 26 August. For more information visit nyt.org.uk.

Photo Credit: Helen Murray

Jesse Bateson and Zakaria Douglas-Zerouali and director Zoe Lafferty

NYT The Host rehearsals

NYT The Host rehearsals

Rebekah Murrell and Zakaria Douglas-Zerouali

Rebekah Murrell and Zakaria Douglas-Zerouali

Rebekah Murrell and Zakaria Douglas-Zerouali

Taylor Keegan and Rebekah Murrell

Taylor Keegan, Isabella Verrico and Jesse Bateson

Taylor Keegan, Isabella Verrico and Jesse Bateson

Taylor Keegan, Rebekah Murrell and Zakaria Douglas-Zerouali