‘Concerned Others’ reducing harm and another side of addiction – we speak to co-creator Alex Bird

In 2023, Tortoise in a Nutshell, with their unique method of creating theatre out of light, sound, items and objects and tiny 32 mm figures, embarked on the creation of a production focussed on addiction, Concerned Others. Focusing on the people who are around the addicts – the family and friends concerned about their loved ones – Concerned Others has been brought back for a limited 2026 run.

We got a chance to speak to Alex Bird, co-creator of the show and co-artistic director of Tortoise in a Nutshell. The show toured after the annual death by addiction figures were published, heightening public attention on addiction policy; it was their hope that Concerned Others would help amplify voices of people affected by addiction other than concentrating as usual on the horror of the death rate.

What attracted you to look at addiction? 

We first started thinking about the project during that tail end period of the pandemic. Arran [Howie – co-Artistic Director] and I were thinking carefully about ideas of recovery, what that meant for different people, about our own community and how we might better serve it in some way through work we were creating. The nicest thing to do was to go and meet people, talk to them, hear their perspectives.

And how did that lead to the material you ended up using? 

An addictions recovery consultant said, we should think about making something that represents the voices of the families and people who care for people who are living through recovery or active addiction because they don’t have a seat at the table. 

So, this represents their voices?

We’re not interested in using theatre as a way of passing on our thoughts. The motivation is entirely about passing on the things that people want to say. It was about [finding a way to] listen, hear and find a way of passing that on directly. That felt like something useful to the wider movement around addiction. We’re just trying to recreate the experience we were lucky enough to have – having your world view disassembled and reassembled.

And that fits within your own philosophy for the tour?

We’re interested in that idea of activating our imaginations not just individually but collectively – a useful tool in initiating social change. Our desired shape for touring was to make something that could go into real community settings. That takes a long time to coordinate.

And from the research you did, were there any common themes? 

Real frustration around the wider perception of addiction that is tied into that horrendous push and pull around the yearly publication of the drug and alcohol related death figures. 

People were incredibly frustrated; that’s the one time a year where this subject is brought into public discourse. It’s hard to get messages about the positivity of recovery across; stories of people who have been able to go on that journey aren’t heard often enough. There isn’t enough action to help people at a time they need it most. 

This has been declared a public health emergency for the past 10 years, but we still don’t have a political approach that will say, let’s go on the evidence – the experience of families, people who’ve gone through recovery – and put in place the steps that are needed. Once the people we interviewed wanted their voices represented then it was about building moments that helped express those ideas.

Beyond people in recovery, have you found common aspects of addiction we should all reflect on?

Every single human being is capable of addiction in one form or another. One of the doctors talked about how this capacity exists within all of us. We all hold that same fundamental biology and we’re members of the same society, communities. 

This is a subject for everyone. It’s easier to build a barrier and say that’s not me, can’t happen to me, a problem for someone else. Even worse, that person must have done something to deserve where they are. Breaking that down is frustrating. This is just a tiny part of the wider advocacy work that goes on in community work around addiction. Self-stigma is a real hurdle – it’s a label they give to themselves. 

What was behind bringing Concerned Others back? 

It felt relevant. There’s something helpful about looking back on a moment in time from even just a few years in the future. During this tour we had a performance with a panel where a few of the people who’d worked on the piece and had their voices in the piece, answered questions after a performance. 

It was lovely hearing them talk about hearing their voice, and how they now feel, with the things that have improved and the things they wish if it was another three years’ time, we should be talking about. 

So, tell us about the Tortoise in a Nutshell approach to theatre. 

As a visual theatre company, we work a lot with light, sound, items, and objects. The simplicity of those methods is combined with trying to express complicated perspectives that are hard to express in words. Much easier to feel in the bottom of your stomach than to critically analyse. 

If you can have space and time to imagine a different world, a way that something might work, well the strength that comes with those ideas can be pivotal. We want to make theatre to allows people to come into a room, sit in a bubble and experience something in their gut that would allow them to be up here in their head at the same time.

And how do you now reflect over the two productions?

We were lucky. We felt the responsibility of making sure we were representing those people properly and accurately. They’re still finding joy, success and changing their lives; that is an amazing, incredible thing to be part of. If, as a community, we can understand reducing harm and what the benefit it will bring to everyone, that’s a lovely thing. 

The 2026 tour finishes at The Barn, Banchory on 30th October, and you can find out more about the production here.