Edinburgh-based theatre makers Tortoise in a Nutshell premiere their brand-new show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Concerned Others – an intimate tabletop performance sharing the stories of critically-underheard voices.
Scotland has the highest rate of substance-related deaths in Europe. One of the highest rates per head of population in the world. In communities across the country, families and clinicians support people experiencing substance dependency. Using immersive soundscapes, shoebox installations, turntables, micro-projection and 32mm figures, Concerned Others explores this crisis, and highlights the deadly culture of judgement, ignorance and misunderstanding surrounding addiction and substance-related death.
Would you mind giving us a brief insight into what your show is?
Tortoise in a Nutshell are an Edinburgh-based visual theatre company who have been making and touring work in Scotland and internationally for 13 years.
Concerned Others is a brand-new production premiering at Fringe this August. The piece has been created from a 5-month interview process with people with lived experience of substance dependency, their carers and loved ones, healthcare professionals, and policy makers.
Scotland has the highest drug-related death rate in Europe and one of the highest in the world. This production is aiming to challenge the stigma around this topic through platforming unheard voices and exploring why and how these issues affect people’s lives within our communities in Scotland.
Tell us about the creative team and process involved?
Tortoise Co-Director, Alex Bird, is devising and performing in the piece, following on from a year-long residency with Puppet Animation Scotland in 2021, where the seeds for the show were sewn. The larger team has been working collaboratively in our rehearsal/office space to bring the production to life.
Long-time Tortoise collaborator, Jim Harbourne, is on board as the sound designer and has been working his magic to create an audio score from the recorded voices of interview participants alongside an original composition.
We’re really glad to be working with lighting designer Andrew Gannon again who’s worked on lots of other Tortoise shows, as well as with Vanishing Point Theatre.
We also have audio-visual designer, Lewis den Hertog, on the team for the first time. Lewis is part of a groupwork theatre company – who created the 2019 Fringe First Award-winning play, The Afflicted.
Designer Valerie Reid will also be assisting the Tortoise team on the set design and build and we’re really happy to have her eyes and hands on the production!
How does it feel coming to the Fringe?
This is our first time back since we brought our production Feral to Fringe in 2013, which won the Scotsman Fringe First Award (UK). We’re really excited to be bringing a new production to Fringe, as part of the Made in Scotland Showcase, alongside a great lineup of shows.
There are over 3,000 shows at the Fringe. So, what sets your show apart?
Concerned Others is a multi-art form piece, blending audio-visual design, micro-cinema, puppetry, and original music composition. This innovative, unique and playful use of artistic forms to tell stories is what sets us apart from other theatre companies.
Is there anything specific you’re hoping for the audience to take away?
We hope audiences come away from an immersive and collective experience which leaves them with more questions about substance dependency and drug-related deaths in Scotland and that they feel well equipped with the resources provided to go away able to find out more.
Your ideal audience is in attendance, who’s watching? Or more importantly – who isn’t there…
Anyone with an interest, curiosity, or concern for one of the most pressing current social issues in Scotland, affecting many people in the communities we live in. The show’s mission is to raise awareness and reduce stigma around drug-related death and substance dependency.
We want people to feel comfortable to come along, regardless of how aware they are of these issues. It can be a very difficult thing to talk about, and we hope audiences will be open to learning more and willing to hear people’s opinions and experiences. Due to some of the content in the show, the age recommendation is 14+.
It’s an intense month, so where you’re able, how do you plan to relax, and are there any other shows you intend to see or want to recommend?
We’ll be performing at Summerhall, so will be spending most of the month there – where we’re looking forward to seeing Lung Theatre’s Woodhill (which has a similar poster image to ours!). The play has been created from the real stories of three families, each with loved ones who have died in HMP Woodhill.
We’re also performing alongside an amazing lineup of artists as part of the Made in Scotland Showcase, so we’ll be trying to catch shows such as Superfan’s Stuntman, EXPERTS RADIO LAB (for children and families) and Solène Weinachter’s After All.
In your ideal world, how can we improve the world of the Fringe, of performance, and the industry?
Fringe has become largely inaccessible for a lot of people in recent years, due to the cost of ticket prices, the price of renting during Fringe, and the overall costs involved when putting on a Fringe show.
A large part of our work at Tortoise is making our productions and projects accessible for all and reducing barriers to accessing art due to anxiety, cost and location. There need to be more schemes for those from low-income backgrounds to be able to attend shows, as well as more platforms and funding for independent artists and small companies from underrepresented backgrounds, to be able to afford to bring their work and ideas to Fringe!
