Veteran actor required, £500 an hour – must have cold nose and four paws
A SCOTTISH theatre is in urgent need of an old dog ready to learn a new trick – as a canine actor earning the equivalent of £500 an hour.
The successful applicant will star alongside veteran actor Dudley Sutton – whose credits include Porridge and Lovejoy – in John Steinbeck’s Of Mice And Men at the King’s Theatre, Edinburgh.
Badger, the elderly dog originally cast in the role, died recently of old age, so the King’s has placed an urgent ad for a stand-in – no experience required.
The ad states: ‘Most breeds and sizes will be considered, but he or she should ideally look relatively elderly and have the appearance of a “working” dog, and must have a calm temperament.
‘The dog will be on stage for around five minutes in total... and on a lead at all times. £300 per week will be paid to the dog and its owner.’ In the play, Mr Sutton plays Candy, an old ranch hand who faces being homeless when he becomes too old to clean the bunkhouse.
His only companion is his ancient sheepdog known only as ‘Candy’s dog’, which is eventually shot because it is too old to work.
The successful canine applicant – which will not be shot – will have to appear just seven times on stage, giving a total acting time of just 35 minutes.
On this basis it will earn the equivalent of £514 an hour, or almost 77 times the national minimum wage for an adult.
Matthew Gale, producer of the show, said: ‘It can be any dog. It could be a mongrel, a sheepdog or a collie. It just needs to be a dog that could have worked on a farm.’