Ginger
Ginger is an original production produced in association with Platform and Lyth Arts Centre
Ginger tells the tale of a misshapen gingerbread person, discarded and marked for the rubbish. We follow Ginger as they try to find their place in a kitchen where all confectionery looks the same.
Available for Touring in 2027
It’s time to get baking!
Eggs crack
Butter melts
Puffs of flour and cinnamon fill the air.
The perfect platter of Gingerbread people is ready for the oven.
But one of these biscuits has other ideas…
Ginger tells the tale of a misshapen gingerbread person, discarded and marked for the bin. Follow our biscuity hero as they inspire a picture-perfect kitchen to come alive in a cacophony of chaos. A disco fridge, somersaulting teaspoons and a mysterious yodelling sink, are all brought to life using a mix of puppetry, magic and a performance.
Performance spaces will be transformed into welcoming culinary worlds; kitchen playgrounds that spill out across the audience/performer divide, in a design conceived with intimacy, interactivity and play at its heart.
Ginger draws inspiration from The Gingerbread Man, creating an original reimagining of a well-known folktale about one character’s flight to freedom. But should Ginger keep on running? Or has the time come to take a stand and claim back the kitchen?
Tortoise in a Nutshell’s (TiaN) unique style will construct a story to excite and entrance family audiences, creating a welcoming and bespoke live performance for an audience heavily impacted by the social consequences of the COVID19 pandemic.
Underpinned by themes of identity, individuality and acceptance, Ginger is an original, self-contained, immersive performance for 3–7-year-olds and their carers. It has been created to deliver a flexible touring model that can cater to presentations in theatres, schools, community halls and non-conventional spaces, with a specific consideration to serving the needs of audiences living in rural locations and areas of high-socio-economic challenge.
Ginger will bring together families and communities for an hour of puppetry, performance and play, creating moments of joy-filled connectivity and imaginative escape.
Awards
Ginger has been nominated for three awards for the Critics Awards for Theatre in Scotland, in the following categories:
Best Production for Children and Young People
Best Design (Katy Rae-Wilson and Michaella Fee)
Best Technical Presentation
Upcoming Presentations
PAST Presentations
Theatre In Schools Scotland Tour. 11th November 2024 - 7th February 2025
Tramway, Glasgow. 6th-16th November 2023
Scottish Tour in Studios and Communities. 21st October - 3rd December 2023
Partner Organisations
Ginger is an original production produced in association with two of Scotland’s most successful arts centres:
Lyth Arts Centre
Lyth Arts Centre (LAC) is the UK’s most northerly mainland arts centre in the heart of Caithness, Scotland. Every year from March to December, we present a programme of live performances from touring companies and visual arts – from Scotland, the UK and the world. This includes theatre, dance, family events, jazz, folk, classical and world music, comedy, circus, and much more. LAC also presents performances in around 12 village halls and community centres across Caithness and North Sutherland.
Platform
Platform is the arts centre at the heart of The Bridge complex in Easterhouse, Glasgow. The venue first opened the doors in 2006 and since then has hosted a wide variety of high-quality gigs, exhibitions and performances. The year-round creative programme is underpinned by a desire to provide members of the local community with opportunities to collaborate with professional artists and participate in art and cultural experiences that improve confidence and well-being, develop skills and widen social networks. Platform has also supported numerous highly successful performances to be developed and produced ‘in association with’ the venue. Recent ‘in association with’ collaborations include ‘No Show’ by SUPERFAN, ‘Whirlygig’ by Catherine Wheels and Red Bridge Arts and ‘Little Top’ by Starcatchers.
Credits
Performer: Kerry Cleland
Puppeteer: Ella MacKay (originally by Matt Hall)
Set Design: Katy Rae Wilson
Lighting Design: Michaella Fee
Sound Design & Composition: Jim Harbourne
Directors: Alex Bird & Arran Howie
Technical Manager: Andrew Gannon
Production Manager: Fi Fraser
Magic Consultant: Ross MacKay
Participation & Engagement
A key element in Tortoise in a Nutshell’s work is the blend of participatory and performance practice. It’s our belief that the combination of these two forms can create fuller, more impactful and lasting experiences for audiences. Pre-performance programmes of engagement workshops can build confidence in first time audiences. Residency workshops allow audiences the opportunity to contribute directly to the creation of original stories. Post-production sessions provide the space and time for creative engagement with complex social themes.
Alongside the offer of a performance production, Ginger is supported by a full programme of participatory activity, available at zero financial cost to the participant, and fully coordinated by Tortoise in a Nutshell. During the winter tour of Ginger in 2022, we took performances to a total of 1702 people, with accompanying workshops across schools, nurseries and community settings reaching 1141 young people.
Live performance provides a vital place of escape and creative discovery for young audiences, but clear inequalities and barriers to access exist for many and have been severely exacerbated by the social impact of the COVID19 pandemic.
The aim of this supporting participatory programme is therefore to help support venue programmes of audience development. We aim to provide a pathway to high-quality, long-term, forms of engagement, that will help welcome new and returning audiences back to cultural centres across Scotland.
Sessions will be led by, and utilise the skills of, local community-based arts practitioners, with overarching training, support and co-facilitation provided by Tortoise in a Nutshell’s dedicated artist team.
With over ten years of experience in delivery, Tortoise in a Nutshell has an extensive track record of delivering exceptional, high-quality work. Participatory sessions can be tailored to fit the needs of groups from a range of backgrounds and we are always open to the idea of creating bespoke offers.
