They may be playing arch nemeses on stage but Liz Wilkinson and Ruth Collinge share a passion for community theatre. They chat about the Electric Sunshine project’s new production of Dead Dog in a Suitcase.
Set in an unnamed seaside town where corruption is rife, few prosper and many scrape together what they can. Empty buildings, flickering neon signs, and shadowy alleyways provide a background for criminal activity to run rampant. Through the grime emerges protagonist Macheath (Liz Wilkinson), a contract killer and professional opportunist, and Colin Locket (Ruth Collinge) – the corrupt police chief driven by revenge to foil him.
This is the backdrop to the Electric Sunshine project’s latest production – Dead Dog in a Suitcase. With a blend of dark comedy and high-energy musical numbers the play tackles each terrible theme with sublime gusto.
Dead Dog in a Suitcase. What’s that all about?
Liz: It’s about the world and the people in it – the saints, killers, monsters and suckers. You’re coming to see a world which has a lot in common with ours. There’s sex, politics, corruption, danger and banana daiquiris!
Ruth: The dead dog ends up in a suitcase which gets mixed up with other suitcases throughout the play. The dead dog is indicative of the desperate state of the world. A stinking bag of rotting flesh that represents the corruption, decay, and hopelessness hidden within a respectable outer casing. The suitcase represents a means of escape as well as a metaphor for being trapped in a place from which there is no escape – or that you take your despair with you wherever you go.
The play itself shows the depth of despair that the world has sunk to. The lyrics to Pulp’s Common People spring to mind – “Dance and drink and screw because there’s nothing else to do”. Nothing is well with the world. Corruption, death and murder are the norm. Characters hope but have their hope dashed at every turn.
Tell us a bit about your character, what makes them tick?
Ruth: Colin Lockit – chief of police. A corrupt, fascistic lone operator who will stop at nothing to bring down his arch nemesis, Macheath. He is driven by an urge to see Macheath behind bars and punished – not because he is bothered that he Macheath is breaking the law, but because he is rebelling against the norm that Lockit wants. He is driven to keep his world exactly how he wants it to be. He is willing to accept bribes, beat up men or women, shout and scream – an unhinged officer of the law who wants complete control of his own domain. He is driven by revenge for perceived slights.
Liz: I’m playing Macheath. He’s a contract killer whose life is about to get very complicated. He’s a bad man, a rogue, a charmer – there’s a lot more to him than might meet the eye. He’s based on the character that inspired the song Mac the Knife – so it’s a big pair of shoes to step into!
You’ve been working on this production since the beginning of the year, how have you developed your character throughout rehearsals?
Ruth: It has been difficult developing this character. I am a woman playing a very dominant man. I feel he has small man syndrome and struts around being confidant and dominant to make up for his lack of height and bulk. When we met with Carl Grose to discuss the play, he described the character as a complete fascist – a sort of Dixon of Dock Green on speed. I think I will be continuing to work on the character throughout the run as he contains so many nasty traits that I keep discovering new facets all the time.
Liz: It’s actually been one heck of a journey. I’ve historically played ‘nice’ characters, so the chance to really stretch myself in a completely new direction was irresistible. I read the play over and over. I need to know the whole journey of the character – things that happen later in the show are meaningless unless the right acting decisions are made earlier. Channeling my inner bastard has been the biggest and most fun challenge!
Inspired by a play from 1728 and rewritten for 2014, how will Dead Dog resonate with audiences in 2023?
Ruth: The characters are utterly recognisable for audiences. The world of corruption and depravity is universal. The characters are cartoonish and comical in their grubby world of crime, corruption, violence and hedonism. I think audiences will enjoy the language, set and costume as well as the use of sound, lighting and puppetry. The themes have not changed since the early 18th century and speak to us of the condition of mankind. I think the play is particularly relevant in this time of investigations for parliamentary irregularities – revealing the delicacy of the veneer that hides the real world of corruption and politics with a capital and small P.
Liz: When the original piece was written, theatre had always focused on the highest levels of society. Suddenly, right there on stage were the people who lived their lives in the darkest corners of society, and it was a blockbuster, drawing people in to examine the way the world really was. Amazingly, the same themes of inequality and political corruption are still very much with us in 2023. Dead Dog approaches these themes in a way that has huge amounts of humour, but there’s no denying their relevance to our lives today.
Why is it important to bring theatre like this to Blackpool?
Ruth: Blackpool has a fairly generous offer of large-scale productions of hit musicals, comedians, tribute bands and other shows that are populist and designed to provide theatres with revenue through bums on seats. It’s so important to widen this offer to include plays and theatre that challenges audiences to think. It’s so hard for the entertainment industry to keep going during this period of soaring costs and increased pressure on households that having a challenging local group producing a piece that is fun, but challenging, dark and not catering to mass entertainment can only be a good thing, right?
Liz: Blackpool is the world in miniature. We have everything here. We deserve everything here. But to get it, we need to look at what is wrong and ask ourselves how we can fix it. If you can do that by seeing a witty, fast-paced and fun show with wild music, then I think that’s a good start. From a performer’s point of view, it’s absolutely vital to encourage the production of homegrown theatre in Blackpool. So much we see is piped in from elsewhere. We’ve got the skill here – let’s make it our way!
Does The Electric Sunshine project’s community production of Dead Dog provide anything new to the narrative?
Ruth: We have been fluid in our interpretation of the casting for the gender of the characters which brings another layer to the production. We have reinterpreted some of the songs and added BSL signing to one of the ensemble songs. The play is set in a recognisable, yet strangely dystopian world which should keep audiences on their toes.
Liz: Without a doubt. The company is made up of people who all have one thing in common – we’re deeply committed and absolutely passionate about what we’re doing. We’ll take risks and push ourselves in new ways. One thing which is new is the way in which the show has been cast. We’re very relaxed about the genders of actors and characters. Macheath, for example, is written as very masculine. As a feminine woman I’ve had to find ways of working on driving that masculinity forward, which has led to some interesting rehearsal shenanigans and even affected my costume!
Finally, why should people come to see DDIAS?
Liz: To have a really good evening out! The show is funny, wise, sharp and the music covers so many genres that it’s a wild ride! The Electric Sunshine Project is focused on making the arts accessible so ticket prices are low and any proceeds go straight into developing opportunities for local people to access and enjoy the arts in loads of different ways.
Ruth: Because it is community theatre at it’s best. We are a diverse company who have worked hard to produce an innovative and challenging piece of theatre. Miss it at your peril!!
Dead Dog in a Suitcase is on 22-25 June at the Old Electric. Read our preview here.
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