by Laura Kressly

Scotland has one of the highest drug-related death rates in the world. This suggests that addiction is woven into the country’s fabric and should be understood, but recorded testimony in this production tells us that society broadly holds the view that addiction is down to personal weakness or moral failing. Tortoise in a Nutshell impressively combine puppetry, animation, and installation with data and verbatim accounts to challenge this belief and other stereotypes about addiction.

Model boxes and tiny figures make up a street scene that the mute performer shows us through a live video feed. This is accompanied by related narration from people who work with or know addicts – these are the ‘concerned others’ of the title. We also meet some puppets who share simple stories of stress and fraught emotional lives. The main point across these scenes is that anyone can become an addict, as humans have a hard-wired propensity towards addiction. Whether it’s our phones, coffee, alcohol or heroin, hard times nudge us towards these comforts. Fragments of stories debunk the idea that addicts can only be found in dark alleys and crack houses, as well as reinforce that addiction has bigger, systemic causes like poverty and abuse.

The image of a running person reappears throughout the piece. In this context, it has multiple meanings: recovery is a journey, escape from problems, and the frantic hamster wheel of life that can so easily harm us. This gives the show further cohesion, energy, and the symbolism balances the more straightforward verbatim texts. The range of mediums used to explore the topics is smart, and the end result is contemplative rather than didactic.

Concerned Others runs through 27 August.

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