The Ballad of Backbone Joe

A dollar fight gone wrong, a classy Sheila with a mind for revenge and a private detective hot on her heels. The Ballad of Backbone Joe is an austere tale of the apparent murder of Messy Dimes Dan, the owner of the town’s abattoir and boxing emporium. This jigsaw-puzzle narrative is told through visual trickery, film, bone-crunching physical theatre and filmic lighting.

Set in the roaring carnival days of pre-war Australia, this tin pan alley opera features the unique Rag ‘n’ Bone music and junkyard aesthetic of Melbourne-based trio the Suitcase Royale. Contra bass, banjo, guitar, accordion, drums and the ghostly voice of a red-dressed vixen carry this broken-down truck of a musical down the windy road of revenge

From the creators of the acclaimed “Chronicles of a Sleepless Moon” and winner of the coveted Golden Gibbo award (Melbourne Comedy Festival 2008) “The Ghosts of Ricketts Hill” comes a toe-biting junkyard opera to that will hold you in the cradle of suspense until the final red curtain is drawn.

"Visionary, emancipated and transformational... The Suitcase Royale create works of theatre achingly undiluted, joining the soul of madcap anarchy found in the best of the Marx Brothers to the self-sufficient purity found in travelling tent shows” Pittsburgh City Paper