Following the huge success of Ubu Karaoke, indisputably this summer’s most raucous and audience centric musical, and with Fup about to open at the Asylum ahead of a UK tour, Kneehigh is on a roll and thrilled to announce the return of their trail-blazing and much celebrated theatrical tour-de-force, Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other love songs).
Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other love songs) will play at the Lyric Hammersmith from 21 May to 15 June as part of a UK and international tour with full dates to be announced shortly.
Writer Carl Grose said ‘It’s a thrill to be bringing Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other love songs) – our re-imagining of John Gay’s infamous The Beggar’s Opera – back to the world. When we made this show four years ago at the mighty Liverpool Everyman, I remember the white-hot urgency with which we felt this story had to be told. Our deranged apocalyptic musical dealt with political corruption and widespread injustice against a backdrop of cracked morality and the fevered need to survive. These themes haven’t gone away. In fact, I’d say there’s never been a more perfect time for our anti-hero Macheath to rant: “Bring it down! Bring it down! Bring it down – and start it all again!”
Written by Carl Grose with original score by Charles Hazelwood and directed by Kneehigh’s Artistic Director and founder Mike Shepherd; Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other love songs) is a radical re-working of John Gay’s scabrous satire, The Beggar’s Opera.
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.
Grose’s savage political comedy propels along with Hazelwood’s pulsing score as the notorious urban assassin Macheath carves a swathe through a criminal world, smashing windows and breaking hearts as he goes, in this twisted morality tale for our times bursting with wit, wonder and weirdness.
Taking inspiration from Gay’s original, this bold re-telling shines a contemporary light on people’s capacity for corruption; confronting big business, corrupt institutions, urban myths and pilchards.
The live score plunders the sound of our times; trip hop combines with folk, ska with grime and dubstep to create a gorgeous and powerful musical mix.
