** Winner of Best Production for Children and Young People at the 2022 Critics’ Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) **
Written by Oliver Emanuel, I Am Tiger was inspired by two facts – that the number one killer of men in the UK under 40 is suicide, and that there are now more tigers kept as pets than live in the wild. Heart-breaking, comic and thought-provoking, I Am Tiger is a drama about trying to live with loss which highlights why keeping silent is not always the best solution.
It tells the story of Laura, who is given a pet tiger by her parents a month after losing her big brother to suicide. They never explain the tiger and never discuss Laura’s big brother. Not ever. It’s like Laura’s big brother didn’t exist. And having a pet tiger is illegal for a reason. Soon things start to spiral out of control, as things tend to do with feelings of grief… and tigers…
Freelance journalist and theatre critic, Thom Dibdin who presented the award at the CATS Awards ceremony said: “I Am Tiger is an immense and important play that dares to speak frankly about a big issue - the suicide of an older sibling.”
Lu Kemp, Artistic Director of Perth Theatre and playwright Oliver Emanuel, talk about the show in the interview below.
Commissioned by Imaginate and Horsecross Arts T/A Perth Theatre
Developed through Accelerator (funded by the PLaCE programme) and funded through the Scottish Government’s Festivals Expo Fund.