The Butterfly Hunter

A Victorian adventure to inspire budding young explorers

In the context of Victorian discovery, Theatr na n’Óg will follow the fascinating journey of Neath’s Alfred Russel Wallace, a contemporary of Charles Darwin.

When Charles Darwin was stumped for an answer to why 
certain species were the way they were, the advice given to him was - “You should ask Wallace”.

In 1841 Alfred Russel Wallace came to survey the vale of Neath ready for the railways.  It was here he says that his love for plants and insects grew, and on discovering a rare species of beetle he began to ask the question: why and how are there so many 
different species? It was many years later that Wallace discovered an answer which would spur Darwin on to produce his seminal work 
“On The Origin of Species”.    

Set in Neath, the play takes us to the far corners of the globe, to Brazil and Malaya chronicling the life of this great scientist. The play will investigate issues of sustainability, conservation, and the advent of the great thinkers and explorers of the Victorian era.