Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other love songs) (Oberon Modern Plays)

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One summer, a young woman was house-sitting for a family who were away on vacation. They lived in a large downtown apartment and she was tasked with taking care of their dog, a golden retriever. If anyone has any information surrounding the circumstances, they should call the Scottish SPCA confidential animal helpline on 03000 999 999." Read More Related Articles An exceptional piece of theatre not to be missed… The finale is truly explosive, whipping the audience into an immediate standing ovation.”– Canal Street When it was first suggested that Kneehigh might be interested in The Beggar’s Opera I wasn’t keen. The plot seemed thin; I didn’t really know who Macheath was or what he did; the women were either wives, daughters or prostitutes, the men thieves and rogues and the ending felt lame. Ultimately, with all urban legends of this ilk, they endure for decades because awful things happen in big cities. Everyone’s paranoid, no-one trusts strangers; someone stealing a dead dog isn’t even the most horrible story I’ve heard this year, let alone in 12 years living in London.

Strong performances abound… A genuinely powerful ensemble performance. It’s an evening that is continually fascinating.”– Oldham Evening Chronicle The young woman was horrified and felt very guilty. After all, she had unknowingly been the cause of the dog’s death. She didn’t want to tell the family and ruin their holiday. At the same time, she had to find some way to dispose of the dog because it was beginning to decompose. She wasn’t sure what to do with a dead dog. The Scottish SPCA is now appealing for anyone with information about the incident to come forward to helpWhen Carl announced the title was to be ‘Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other love songs)’ there were raised eyebrows and pleas for us to change it to something more “accessible” but we held out. It seemed an important statement of intent that he wasn’t simply adapting John Gay’s original but radically re-writing it. Having been fired up we now wanted to leap far away from the comfort zone. As Carl wrote at the time: “….the story of a dead dog in a suitcase is a famous urban myth (google it) It’s a modern folklore and that feels like what our Beggar’s Opera is too. If John Gay’s was highwaymen, prostitutes and street thieves then ours is about the mythic underbelly of NOW-corporate conspiracy, hit men, weirdowarped Robin Hood types, the end of civilisation, dead dogs in suitcases…I mean what the HELL is the world coming to?”

The body of the dog found in Sheffield will be taken to a vet for further examinations to determine the cause of death and to try to establish the identity of the owner. Wild and anarchic and often very funny… The cast works as a perfect ensemble. It’s all very entertaining… Very much of and for our time. ”– British Theatre GuideEchoing Gay’s original, the live score plunders the sounds of our times. Trip hop combines with folk, Renaissance polyphony with psychedelia, ska with grime and dubstep to create a gorgeous and powerful musical mix. Inspector for the charity, Robyn Myszor, said: “The dog was a white and tan male entire Staffordshire bull terrier cross. Read More Related Articles A squirrel found trapped in a toilet roll and a deer tangled up in a football net were among the calls received by the RSPCA. Credit: RSPCA I’ve listened to The Damned, Jimi Hendrix, Kate Tempest, Purcell, John Taverner, PJ Harvey, Portishead, Tom Jones, Monteverdi and Mozart. In 1917, the exact same story was being told during World War I,” says Dr Clarke – only the wallet is dropped on the underground, and the man it belongs to is German, and warns about a bombing raid on Halloween. It’s a rumour that feeds the xenophobia that often rears its head during insecure times of war and terrorism, perpetuating any fear already present in the individual listening and perhaps later sharing.

Dr Leanne Calvert, a folklore expert and history lecturer at Hertfordshire University, agrees adding, “the ‘dead dog in a suitcase’ story thrives in urban areas arguably because it is a social comment on unreasonable bosses and the pressures of work and crime and distrust in cities. Would you ever take a stranger's offer to carry your bag off a train in London? That's a red flag for most people.” The RSPCA receives around 91,500 calls to its cruelty line every month and investigates 5,300 reports of deliberate cruelty.The Dead Dog in the Suitcase is an urban legend about a young woman who discovers that a golden retriever she was supposed to care for has passed away. But then – the audience is barked "Over the top!" after the men, into a field (direction by Matthew Dunster). We pass soldiers, mired in mud, tangled in structures, calling, groaning. Against the reality of the trees, such make-believe seems tawdry. Inside the wood, red lines of light suggest tracer fire; images of soldiers are suspended between trunks, lie among the leaves and twigs. Jon Bausor's design inspires heart-strong contemplation. Instead, the actors continue the too-obvious pretence. No matter how well done, it feels like a travesty of horror. Wyn Griffith, in his tweed suit, walking through the trees and remembering, as so simply and movingly performed by Michael Elwyn, would have been enough. Together we interrogated John Gay’s original and Bertolt Brecht’s revision: we looked for ways to strengthen what we perceived as weaknesses, we ranted about the world and what makes us furious, and realised we were fired up to make a new Beggar’s Opera for our times. I also read Brechts’ version The Threepenny Opera and wrote one sentence from Brecht in my dayto-day notebook: “the world is poor and man’s a shit”. This resonated and prompted me to meet with long time Kneehigh performer, writer and marvellous man Carl Grose. Mayor Goodman has been assassinated. Contract killer Macheath has just married Pretty Polly Peachum and Mr and Mrs Peachum aren’t happy. Not one bit.