The Devil’s Half-Acre

The award-winning team that delighted audiences with The Bookbinder and The Road That Wasn’t There return with a darker, more adult tale of the uncanny. The Devil’s Half-Acre is set in the slums of gold rush-era Dunedin, when the powerhouse of New Zealand lay south of the Waitaki River rather than north of the Bombay Hills.

Combining puppetry, live music and a score by acclaimed composer Tane Upjohn-Beatson, it conjures a landscape of brothels, gaming houses and opium dens; a melting pot of immigrants from all over the world — prostitutes, prospectors, beggars and conmen, the newly rich and newly broke, perhaps even the devil himself…

Premiered March 2016

Hannah Playhouse, Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington)

Commissioned by
Aotearoa New Zealand Arts Festival

"Riveting theatrical spectacle"

— The Pantograph Punch
"Highly entertaining"

The Dominion Post
"An intriguing, emotionally powerful narrative told with distinctive visual flair"

Theatreview, Ōtepoti (Dunedin)
"Breathtaking, beautiful spectacle"

The Pantograph Punch
"A magical performance"

Otago Daily Times

Cast

Jack

Ralph McCubbin Howell

Anya Tate Manning — **Scarlett, Mark, Mr. Farthing, Fortune Teller**
Anya Tate-Manning

**Mr. Pilgrim, Mr. Pounds, Fantan Spieler, Ranter, Fitzy, Prospector**
Tom Clarke

Crew

Writer

Ralph McCubbin Howell

**Composition + Sound Designer**
Tane Upjohn Beatson

**Set, AV, & Costume Designer**
Meg Rollandi

**Technical Implementation & Construction**
Nick Zwart

**Producer / Production Manager**
David Goldthorpe

Previous seasons

Arts Festival Dunedin

Fortune Theatre, Ōtepoti (Dunedin), NZ
Oct 1-4, 2016
New Zealand Festival

Hannah Playhouse
Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington), NZ
Mar 9-13, 2016