Tortoise in a Nutshell is an Edinburgh based theatre company whose work involves a blend of thought provoking performance and puppetry that has garnered them many awards since its formation in 2010.
This Spring, their much anticipated new production Ragnarok, made with Figurteatret i Nordland, in association with Macrobert Arts Centre, comes to audiences across Scotland. Following its World Premiere at Stirling’s Macrobert Arts Centre, an Edinburgh Premiere takes place as part of the 17th edition of Manipulate Festival, before Ragnarok embarks on a nationwide tour.
Ragnarok follows a young girl and her brother as they battle to find a promised land. Two souls in a sea of thousands, they move through a fractured world as both dream and reality crumble around them. A collision of ancient myth and modern spectacle, Ragnarok takes inspiration from Norse mythology’s cyclical tale of the same name to explore the most pressing issues of our time.
Tortoise in a Nutshell enjoyed a critically-acclaimed, sell-out run at the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe with Concerned Others. In this latest production, a miniature world of cities, mountains and valleys is populated by hundreds of hand-crafted clay figures, brought to life through live feed camera work, recorded voices and an atmospheric immersive soundtrack; posing vital questions about the human condition. A multisensory theatrical work, Ragnarok explores perspectives on global crises. It is a story of fate and self-determination, mortals and gods, the world’s end and its rebirth.
Ragnarok tours to Stirling, Edinburgh, Greenock, St Andrews, Inverness, Cumbernauld, Aberdeen, and Glasgow, with further venues to be confirmed. Ragnarok is directed and designed respectively by Tortoise in a Nutshell co-director Alex Bird and Arran Howie with composition and music performance from longtime Tortoise in a Nutshell collaborator Jim Harbourne.
Irene Brown
Radio Summerhall Arts 