Internet

Music by Amber Vistein
Libretto by Rebecca Hart

Have you ever heard of the New Jersey Devil?

If you grew up anywhere in or around southern NJ, you have. The Garden State’s ‘official state demon’ is said to reside in the wide mysterious swath of forest known as the Pine ‘Barrens’… so named because the soil is inhospitable to farming.  Every year, the Barrens draws 'dark tourists' eager to visit the Devil’s supposed birthplace in the town of Leeds Point.  In 1735, legend has it, the Devil was born human, the 13th child of a woman named Mrs. Leeds. When she uttered a fateful curse, however, her baby transformed, killing her… and haunting the woods forever.  

‘the barren(s)’ takes a closer look at the woman who supposedly started it all, asking who Deborah Leeds might have been… and how her story might echo in the lives of women today.