Enigmatic ex-convict Jack Maggs returns from Australia to the murky streets of nineteenth-century London and embarks on a quest to find his 'son' Henry Phipps, who has mysteriously disappeared. Disguised as a footman, he joins the peculiar household of Phipps's neighbour, Percy Buckle, where he meets Tobias Oates, a young novelist and amateur mesmerist searching for inspiration. Striking a dangerous deal with Oates, Maggs becomes ensnared in a dazzling, distorted world of ambition, secrets and unexpected alliances.
Samuel Adamson's ingenious, wildly entertaining adaptation of Peter Carey's bestselling novel opened in November 2024, in a production by State Theatre Company South Australia.
