In 1965, an American scientist lived with a dolphin for ten weeks to try and teach him to speak English – part of NASA-funded research project into human-animal communication.
Condemned by the wider scientific community as an elaborate circus trick, Margaret’s lessons and intimate contact with Peter remain a controversial episode in the space race between the two Cold War superpowers.
TANK rips this special relationship apart – with conflicting narratives, psychedelic dance routines and cinematic visions. A reflection on the politics that shape the stories we tell and the histories we know, TANK has been called a “funny, dark and strangely dreamy work about the futility and fanaticism in humankind’s desire to colonise the other” (Time Out).
TANK was created using a devising process with the cast.
Directors: Billy Barrett and Ellice Stevens
Video artist: Dorothy Allen-Pickard
Original Cast: Joe Boylan, Craig Hamilton, Ellice Stevens, Victoria Watson
Additional performances featuring: Bryony Davies, Sophie Steer
Winner: The Scotsman Fringe First Award 2016
