Debuted to great audience and critical acclaim at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival (where it was shortlisted for both the Arches Brick Award and a Total Theatre Award) Grit explores the experience of lost children, lost childhood and the crushing effects of being raised at war. Tortoise in a Nutshell are not a company to shy away from cutting issues.
Grit is an intimate tale inspired by real-life accounts of child soldiers, war correspondents and the families torn apart through armed conflict. Told from the perspective of puppet protagonist ‘Amy’, a young girl looking back over the life of her war photographer father, Grit uses table top rod puppetry, projection and an immersive soundscape, to create a piece which is unsettling yet familiar, devastating yet compelling and which offers a glimpse into lost childhoods throughout the world.
This show lived up to the promises, skillfully designed and performed, simple and yet sophisticated enough to keep our attention for just under an hour. The use of projection and shadow was the best I have seen in a puppet show, choreographed and in keeping with the subject matter of photography. If you get a chance to see this show take it, and if not, watch out for more adult programming at Norwich Puppet Theatre.
Praise for Grit:
‘An important and imaginative piece of visual theatre that is a pure delight to watch’, Steven Fraser, The Skinny.
‘A genuinely exciting young company who are clearly brimful of ideas’, Lyn Gardner, The Guardian.
‘An intimate and, at times, devastating portrayal of the cruel realities of conflict.’ Amy Taylor, Edinburgh Evening News.