"Going to the Dogs" a play by Wim T. Schippers
"Tout" Amsterdam was on 19 September 1986 at the premi�re of "Going to the dogs", a play in four
acts by Wim T. Schippers. A beautiful family drama full surprising inversions and revealings, with a zest of Tsjechov.
Why was the Stadsschouwburg packed full and was there even an extra night-show announced?
The six roles were played by German shepherds disapproved for police force tasks.
After nine months of rehearsals they could act in Schippers' fair drama. They barked, sniffed and did
their need in one of Amsterdam's most respectable theatres. A report was made for Dutch television.
The TV makers spend much time on the responses of public; firstly expectant, then in the break and at last
after the play. We fortunately also get information of what happened behind the scenes especially how an
English reporter with bewilderment in his voice told the English people what happened. Dogs on the stage!
And hundreds of people came to see it!
The show was an old wish of Wim T. Schippers, "Can dogs be happy?'' he wonders. They are especially restless.
They trot on back and forth, behind and around each other. There are also tenderising moments, such as when one
of the dogs peers to a portrait of a shepherd dog. What does the dog think? Am I that, is it a female?
The public response is more extreem lyrically than sobering up or contemplative. That tells a lot about the audience.
But for them the dogs did not care, they wanted their bone. Hector had the heaviest role: he long and
fiercely barked against the velvet-red curtain, behind which things takes place that nobody knows. He, however
he smells. The nose of the dog is the driving force behind their body, and then we are far from Tsjechov and
just in the unknown world of the dog where they all of a sudden become what they themselves did not know:
surprising actors.
Here's some extra information:
Announcement of the play
The actors: Bella, Nimrod, Victoria, Hecktor, Jane and Bobby
Biography of Wim T. Schippers
Personal notes:
- I can remember Wim T. Schippers had an exibition in the Stedelijk Museum of Mondern Art in Amsterdam: He had the floor of a room covered completely with....peanutbutter!!!
- Dutch children know Wim T. Schippers better as the voice of Ernie, Kermit the Frog and The Count von Count (to name but a view) in the Dutch version of Sesame Street.