During World War I a legend emerged of a giant, skulking hound that would stalk no man’s land near Mons, Belgium, killing British soldiers who ventured out at night. According to the tale, ghostly howls were heard and soldiers were found dead, dragged down shell holes with bite marks at their throats. The Hound of the Mons was said to be the result of a sinister German experiment: the brain of a madman put into the skull of a wolfhound, released upon the battlefield. This 3-man puppet would be the star of a darkly surreal theatre production based upon this tale, in which a young soldier affected by shellshock sees visions of the beast, gradually descending into madness.
Based loosely upon Handspring's puppets for War Horse, the hound is made of a lightweight willow frame, with translucent fabric stretched over the body and big, illuminated eyes. The movement is controlled by long sticks with which puppeteers in the body cavity walk the feet, while a third person holds up the head.