The paths and ponds at St Aidan’s RSPB Nature Park in East Leeds will welcome a new type of visitor as the wildlife haven becomes the stage for Nest; a striking new immersive theatre piece that explores themes of identity, existence and climate migration through the eyes of young people using live music, design, visual projections, movement and performance.

Co-produced and co-commissioned by LEEDS 2023 with the National Youth Theatre [NYT] Nest is a promenade piece that will see the audience experience take place across the nature park. Set in the year 2050 (the year by which The Paris Agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change, outlined as the deadline to reach net zero), the story follows 20-year-old Maya who is attending a bird watchingestival following the loss of their grandmother, who loved the natural world.

Nest features a huge cast of over 100 performers and 20 young people in backstage roles, including stage management and design, aged between 17-30 years, many of whom have been recruited from across Yorkshire in partnership with Leeds Playhouse through an open call, alongside existing members of the NYT. The audience will join Maya as she navigates her way around the park, following the cast across different locations as the story unfolds.  The cast will also feature participants from NYT’s Associate Company, Compass Collective, who assist unaccompanied minor refugees and young people seeking asylum to build resilience and integrate into the UK through theatre, music and film.

Nest was conceived in response to an NYT members survey that found the climate crisis was the issue that young people were most interested in exploring theatrically. The site-specific piece is written by Emma Nuttall  and will be directed by Chief Executive and Artistic Director of National Youth Theatre Paul Roseby .

This is the first time St Aidan’s, a former opencast coal mine in east Leeds, has been the venue for a theatrical show. The 355-hectare park features 12km of trails as well as reedbeds, wetlands, meadows and woodland. The largest walking dragline excavator in western Europe, nicknamed ‘Oddball’ – a 1,000-tonne reminder of the mine – overlooks the park, all of which will be carefully considered throughout the week of performances which has been timed to avoid disturbance to wildlife and migration patterns.

Tickets are now available here