David Bowie’s final project prior to his death in 2016 was an 18th-century musical called The Spectator, a forthcoming extensive exhibition of Bowie’s archive at the V&A East Storehouse has revealed.
The work was based around a daily newspaper of the same name that ran between 1711 and 1712, documenting the mores of society in London. Bowie’s notes reveal that he considered the publicly beloved petty thief Jack Sheppard as a potential lead character, as well as Jonathan Wild, the vigilante who was responsible for Sheppard being arrested and executed. He also focused on the Mohocks, a notorious gang of high-class young men who would get drunk and attack people on the streets.
