The Road That Wasn't There

The Road That Wasn't There
Written by Ralph McCubbin Howell
Directed by Hannah Smith

12th – 17th February. 6:30pm (1 hour)
Tickets $18/$14/$12
Booking through www.bats.co.nz or (04) 802 4175

TRICK OF THE LIGHT GET THE SHOW ON THE ROAD

Fresh from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Trick of the Light Theatre return to Wellington, bringing their twisted New Zealand fairytale back to home soil. From award-winning playwright Ralph McCubbin Howell and director Hannah Smith (The Engine Room 2011), The Road That Wasn't There will play from February 12th to 17th - a curious tale from the shadowy corners of our history and the spaces between the lines on the map… In New Zealand there are some 56,000 kilometres of paper roads – streets and towns that exist only on surveyors' maps. Or do they? A young woman strays from the beaten track and finds herself in a paper town. It seems a land of possibility, but she soon discovers that actions taken in the fictional world can have frighteningly real consequences.

The play is rooted in New Zealand folklore; from lost moa roaming the foothills, to faeries who drink moonshine out the back of Pyne Gould Guinness. Told by three actors and fifty three puppets, it includes a character inspired by Wellington's iconic Blanket Man. Playwright Ralph McCubbin Howell (Outstanding New Playwright, Chapman Tripp 2011) says 'It's a story from the twitchy edges of children's literature - a dark world reminiscent of Coraline, Pan's Labyrinth, and the works of the late (great) Margaret Mahy."

After playing to full houses at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the company is looking forward to bringing the show back to New Zealand. Director Hannah Smith says “We came up through the Wellington theatre scene and the play is peppered with local references that went under the radar in Edinburgh. It'll be great to share it with a home crowd."

Regulars of the Wellington Fringe Festival (March of the Meeklings - Best of the Fringe 2008, A Most Outrageous Humbug - Pick of the Fringe 2009, Who's Neat? You! - Best Theatre 2010), this show will take them to new territories, with a nationwide tour that will see them travel from Auckland to Central Otago.

The Road That Wasn't There will be playing at 6.30pm from February 12th -17th. Tickets are available through BATS at www.bats.co.nz or (04) 802 4175. The show combines puppetry and live music in a wickedly funny original fairytale.

ENDS

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