Ferus Festival: Sister Sylvester "the Eagle and the Tortoise"

The Eagle and the Tortoise is a theatrical reading experience tracing the story of a young Turkish woman who became an icon of leftist resistance as an armed militant, political prisoner, and proxy soldier in the American war against ISIS. Moving between myth, history, and journalism, The Eagle and the Tortoise shifts our perspective on this still-unfolding tragedy of our time. The piece makes use of Meyer Sound’s Constellation acoustic system and its immersive component Spacemap to envelop audiences in a live score improvised by both human and non-human performers.

Directed and conceived by Kathryn Karaoglu Hamilton

Dramaturgy by Andrew Kircher

Lighting design by Bruce Steinberg

Immersive sound design by Jeremy Toussaint-Baptiste

Projection programming by Robin A. Ediger-Seto

Book and model design by Emre Ozyetis

Book design consultation and printing by Gabe Greenberg

Camera and object manipulation by Augustus Cook

The script for The Eagle and The Tortoise was developed in part through a residency at The Macdowell Colony, summer of 2019.

“A complex, deeply reflective work that weaves together strands of the personal, political, and mythological with deft subtlety.” 

—Culturebot