In the second show led by Dunedin director Laura Wells, keen literature fans will experience twists and turns which diverge from the original short story Lamb to the Slaughter in this namesake play.
"When people think about Roald Dahl they think Willy Wonka, or Matilda but this is much darker, more adult and more thirsty," Wells said.
Along with twists and turns, new characters and relationships would be added, bringing something new for those already familiar with the text.
"We’ve taken the shell of the story and morphed it into something a little bit extra, and a bit more than what it had originally been — so for those that don’t know the story we don’t give it away at the beginning like the story is actually written."
Wells said she had come across the story when she was in secondary school and had always wanted to adapt Lamb to the Slaughter for the stage, but the rights to professionally perform the story had only been released within the last two years, meaning no-one was able to perform the story before now.
"The rights agents in the UK were able to tell me no-one has ever purchased the performance rights ... so this should be the first performance in community amateur theatre in New Zealand," Wells said.
On top of a brand new performance and a mixed-up story, the Dunedin-based cast of eight would be taking to a rotating stage specially designed by Dunedin stage designers Sofie Welvaert and Helen Davies.
"It works beautifully, and it’s something really different for Dunedin, I don’t think a lot of people will have seen anything on a rotating stage in Dunedin since the Fortune [theatre]."
Wells said the audience should look out for a special song which would feature throughout the piece, that had been recorded by local musician Grace Sprague.
"The music is woven throughout the entire show so the audience will become familiar with it, but I won’t give away what that piece of music is yet," Wells said.
