FERAL Makes US Premiere At Brits Off Broadway At 59E59 Theaters

59E59 Theaters (Val Day, Artistic Director; Brian Beirne, Managing Director) is thrilled welcome the US premiere of FERAL, devised by Tortoise in a Nutshell and directed by Ross MacKay. Produced by Tortoise in a Nutshell / An Original Co-Production with Cumbernauld Theatre, FERAL begins performances on Tuesday, May 14 for a limited engagement through Sunday, June 9. Press Opening is Wednesday, May 22 at 7:15 PM. The performance schedule is Tuesday - Friday at 7:15 PM; Saturday at 2:15 PM & 7:15 PM; and Sunday at 2:15 PM. Performances are at 59E59 Theaters (59 East 59th Street, between Park and Madison). Single tickets are $25 - $35 ($25.40 for 59E59 Members). To purchase tickets, call the 59E59 Box Office at 646-892-7999 or visit www.59e59.org.

Combining puppetry, immersive soundscapes, and multimedia technology, Joe looks back at his childhood home and traces its journey from idyllic seaside town to community gripped by anarchy. Without a word spoken, Edinburgh-based visual theater company Tortoise in a Nutshell, build an entire world in front of the audience's eyes.

FERAL is highly visual, utilizing projection and digital cameras to create a form of live feed animation, in a performance that straddles the form of theater and film. Set in a world built live in front of the audience (featuring the puppeteers Arran Howie, Matthew Hall, Alex Bird), with a live soundtrack by Jim Harbourne, FERAL joins Joe ten years after an event that shook his family and local community to the core. With life changed forever Joe recounts and attempts to process how he lost his perfect town and, in turn, addresses what community means.

FERAL was an award-winning, sell-out success at Edinburgh's renowned venue, Summerhall, in 2013. Since premiering the piece has gone on to be presented over 100 times across the globe. Brits Off Broadway marks its US premiere.

The design team includes Amelia Bird (designer) and Simon Wilkinson (lighting designer). The composer is Jim Harbourne. The Production Stage Manager is Alyssa K. Howard.

Tortoise in a Nutshell is an Edinburgh-based visual theatre company formed in 2011 with the aim of creating theatre that inspires and ignites the imagination of its audiences. Previous productions include Fisk (co-production with Denmark's Teater Katapult); Grit (Total Theatre Award nominee, Arches Brick Award nominee); and The Last Miner (Arches Brick Award nominee).

Ross MacKay is the co-founder and artistic director of Tortoise in a Nutshell. Tortoise in a Nutshell won a Fringe First in 2013 and was presented as part of the Made in Scotland showcases in 2014. Their work has toured throughout the UK, Europe, and internationally and was most recently presented at the Ceravantino Festival, Mexico's premier international festival and the biggest in Latin America. The company received two Total Theatre award nominations, two Arches Brick Award nominations, and were the first UK company to be nominated for The Europe wide Grunshnabel Award for puppetry. They have collaborated with the producers FUEL, Show and Tell, Dundee Rep Theatre, and the National Theatre of Scotland on a number of projects. As a freelance artist, MacKay has worked with a number of companies and was an artist on Attachment with the National Theatre of Scotland. He was the first recipient of a Federation of Scottish Theatre's Supported Director Bursary and has worked on a number of productions that have toured nationally and internationally as director, puppetry director, and magic consultant.