This five-act comedy is set in an anachronistic medieval world ruled by paranoia, greed, violence, cruelty and magic. An embittered, old Merchant creates automatons (golems) to act as unpaid workers for his clients. A trio of impoverished Shepherds buy into the con, but when the automaton breaks down, panic breaks out: all believe themselves somehow accountable and fear the penalties of the law.

A comedy of errors follows, in which the Merchant’s assistant is kidnapped by a group of rogue theatre players, and the Third Shepherd is convinced that he has become the automaton. Mistaken identities drive the plot, as the automaton lurches from scene to scene causing confusion and havoc. At the height of the madness, the Shepherd’s wife is forced to identify her real husband in order to save the Merchant from being tortured in a grisly new device called the Box. With disembodied body parts, a rogue theatre troupe and life-size torture devices, The Scavenger’s Daughter is part miracle play and part farce, exploring technology, illusion and the line between innovation and fraud.