The Devil’s Half-Acre

– Be careful what you wish for – all that glitters isn’t gold.

A pair of con-artists from the slums are commissioned to work for a mysterious employer. As their sleight of hand comes up against what seems like real magic, they find themselves drawn into an increasingly dangerous world of prostitutes and politicians, ministers and ranters, the newly rich and newly broke, perhaps even the devil himself...

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. Set in the slums of gold rush era Dunedin, when the powerhouse of Aotearoa / New Zealand lay south of the Waitaki River rather than north of the Bombay Hills, The Devil’s Half-Acre combines puppetry, live music and a score by acclaimed composer Tane Upjohn-Beatson.

Premiered March 2016

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

Commissioned by
Aotearoa New Zealand Arts Festival