Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Carly Bawden, Audrey Brisson, Andrew Durand, Rina Fatania, James Gow, Martin Hyder, Giles King, Patrycja Kujawska, Dominic Marsh, Justin Radford, Ian Ross, Sarah Wright.
One of the fundamental ideas behind John Gay’s 18th Century masterpiece Beggar’s Opera is that it was one of the highlights of the satirical age, an opera that was perhaps not so subtly poking fun at the fashion in London for staging Italian Opera, Opera that was not inclusive, that had more to with stories of those high born and the mystical. It could be seen as not the British way of doing things and instead of showing something that only spoke to those who could afford this artistic endeavour from the south of the continent, those perhaps with the pretension of being something they are not. John Gay’s work instead speaks to the multitude, mockery at its greatest and for Cornwall’s premiere theatre company, Kneehigh, that truth is exactly the same with Carl Grose’ new breathlessly exciting take on the original work, Dead Dog in a Suitcase and other Love Songs.
What can sometimes be overlooked is the sense of well-ordered anarchy that sits at the very heart of Beggar’s Opera, the underlying tones of a revolutionary change but in a way that a British writer from the period would get away with; it’s all right to mock the establishment but it had to be done in a British way. Not so with Knee High, what they want to do they do and as long as they retain the very peculiar truth which is vital to the lives of Lucy Lockit, Macheath and all who make Dead Dog in a Suitcase and other Love Songs such a joyous, unreal occasion then perhaps John Gay would have smiled in satisfaction at the thunderous standing ovation that greeted the company at the end of the performance.
Completely relevant after nearly 300 years since it took early London Theatre by storm, Kneehigh prevail with their version. For an audience member to sometimes keep up with a production that both demands total attention throughout and to keep an eye on the unseen, the small flicker of movement that will undoubtedly become so important later is a hard ask, yet Kneehigh, armed with that fiercely independent streak that runs through every Cornish person and their creative output, rise to the challenge.
With sterling performances from the cast including the superb Dominic Marsh as Macheath, who bought a certain distinguished chaotic frenzy to the part, Patrycja Kujawska as the assassinated mayor’s wife, Andrew Durand who exceled in every part he played and who caused much laughter with his performance as the jail keeper and one of the girls from the club and Sarah Wright who captured fully the point and showman ship of the art of beach sideshow anarchy in Punch and Judy with so much passion that Mr. Punch himself became a star of the night.
The promise of revolution always hangs in the air, sometimes just out of reach, however for Kneehigh, for this great Cornish theatre company, the revolution has started. Utterly compelling with a great fresh score underlining the whole night; Dead Dog in a Suitcase and other Love Songs is unlike anything you are likely to ever have the pleasure of seeing again.
Ian D. Hall