Threepenny Opera

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Description Threepenny Opera
Production Data
In The Ballad of Mac The Knife all the characters are introduced, the beggars, the prostitutes, the thieves, and the policemen all set the stage for the coming story.
Threepenny Opera was perrformed at Spingold Theatre, as part of Brandeis University's Graduate Theatre Department Season, in 1988

Book and Lyrics by Bertolt Brecht
Music by Kurt Weill
Translation by Marc Blitztein
Directed by Daniel Gidron
Scenery by Margo Zdravkovic
Costumes by Anna Welcome
Lighting by Jeremy Kumin

Summary:
The beggars beg, the whores whore, the theives steal, and the cops all look on as long as they are getting their cut. The Ballad Singer spins this tale of how the seamier side lives, and how we keep those aspects of society "out of sight". Most notorious of all the criminal element is the ambitious and cunning Mac the Knife. He decides to woo Polly Peachum, daughter of J.J. Peachum, who runs the Beggar Rackets. This merger is not to Peachum's liking, so he tries to get Mackie arrested, but Tiger Brown, the Police Commisioner, happens to be Mac's best friend from the war in India . Not to be daunted by a little corruption, Peachum uses every trick in the book to get Mac picked up and held. He is helped along quite readily in that effort by Jenny Diver and the girls of Mac's favorite brothel, which not even married life and being on the lamb can make him avoid. When all other avenues of escape have been closed to him, it finally rests on the head of the Queen (who is feeling merciful having just been coronated) to pardon Mac, who is at that point standing on the gallows with only a moment to spare. The ironic moral is that in real life Victoria's messenger seldom shows up, and once a man gets trodden under by society, he usually stays that way.
Production Goals:
The streets and alleys of London, in Victorian England are the backdrop for this play about Man's Inhumanity to Man, but in our production, that in turn was seen through the metaphor of the Industrial Revolution. The scenery reflected this encompassed all of the action within a large factory, replete with dirty grimy windows at the back of the stage, and metallic grill floors to the multiple levels which the actors could play.
The director asked me to take a very different approach to the book scenes from the songs, as if to segregate them. My answer was to use heavy primary colors in the songs, with occasional white on the faces, whereas the scenes were a more pastel approach, at times leaning towards more bleached out and white light. This allowed the gritty reality of the world of these characters to be established, in the scenes, but for the songs to seem like their lurid dreams, and at times their nightmares.
MacHeath and Polly Peachum celebrate their honeymoon, accompanied by the Moon Over Soho
The Cannon Song celebrates Mackie and Tiger Brown's bloodlust for the good old days when they faught side by side in the army, smashing darkskinned natives to bits.
In Barbara's Song Polly relates how she had always been a good girl, demurely floating downstream, until she met Mac, a curent which she could not fight.
A much younger Mac used to pimp for Jenny Diver. The bloodcurdling 'torch song' Pirate Jenny is her revenge fantasy, where she is a Pirate Queen, grinning menacingly while her ship enters the harbor and lays siege to the town.
Mr. Peachum, the Beggar's Friend, and his rag tag band of misfits entertain Jenny and her whores, who have come to discuss betraying Mac the Knife to him, for a price.
Deus Ex Machina: Queen Victoria's Messenger riding now appears, to bring word of Mackie's pardon, and subsequent gentrification. It helps to have friends in high places.

`Click on an image to zoom in and view at higher resolution.`	Description	Threepenny Opera Production Data
	In The Ballad of Mac The Knife all the characters are introduced, the beggars, the prostitutes, the thieves, and the policemen all set the stage for the coming story.	*Threepenny Opera* was perrformed at Spingold Theatre, as part of Brandeis University's Graduate Theatre Department Season, in 1988 Book and Lyrics by Bertolt Brecht Music by Kurt Weill Translation by Marc Blitztein Directed by Daniel Gidron Scenery by Margo Zdravkovic Costumes by Anna Welcome Lighting by Jeremy Kumin Summary: The beggars beg, the whores whore, the theives steal, and the cops all look on as long as they are getting their cut. The Ballad Singer spins this tale of how the seamier side lives, and how we keep those aspects of society "out of sight". Most notorious of all the criminal element is the ambitious and cunning Mac the Knife. He decides to woo Polly Peachum, daughter of J.J. Peachum, who runs the Beggar Rackets. This merger is not to Peachum's liking, so he tries to get Mackie arrested, but Tiger Brown, the Police Commisioner, happens to be Mac's best friend from the war in India . Not to be daunted by a little corruption, Peachum uses every trick in the book to get Mac picked up and held. He is helped along quite readily in that effort by Jenny Diver and the girls of Mac's favorite brothel, which not even married life and being on the lamb can make him avoid. When all other avenues of escape have been closed to him, it finally rests on the head of the Queen (who is feeling merciful having just been coronated) to pardon Mac, who is at that point standing on the gallows with only a moment to spare. The ironic moral is that in real life Victoria's messenger seldom shows up, and once a man gets trodden under by society, he usually stays that way. Production Goals: The streets and alleys of London, in Victorian England are the backdrop for this play about Man's Inhumanity to Man, but in our production, that in turn was seen through the metaphor of the Industrial Revolution. The scenery reflected this encompassed all of the action within a large factory, replete with dirty grimy windows at the back of the stage, and metallic grill floors to the multiple levels which the actors could play. The director asked me to take a very different approach to the book scenes from the songs, as if to segregate them. My answer was to use heavy primary colors in the songs, with occasional white on the faces, whereas the scenes were a more pastel approach, at times leaning towards more bleached out and white light. This allowed the gritty reality of the world of these characters to be established, in the scenes, but for the songs to seem like their lurid dreams, and at times their nightmares.
	MacHeath and Polly Peachum celebrate their honeymoon, accompanied by the Moon Over Soho
	The Cannon Song celebrates Mackie and Tiger Brown's bloodlust for the good old days when they faught side by side in the army, smashing darkskinned natives to bits.
	In Barbara's Song Polly relates how she had always been a good girl, demurely floating downstream, until she met Mac, a curent which she could not fight.
	A much younger Mac used to pimp for Jenny Diver. The bloodcurdling 'torch song' Pirate Jenny is her revenge fantasy, where she is a Pirate Queen, grinning menacingly while her ship enters the harbor and lays siege to the town.
	Mr. Peachum, the Beggar's Friend, and his rag tag band of misfits entertain Jenny and her whores, who have come to discuss betraying Mac the Knife to him, for a price.
	Deus Ex Machina: Queen Victoria's Messenger riding now appears, to bring word of Mackie's pardon, and subsequent gentrification. It helps to have friends in high places.

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This document was created January 27, 1997 Last revision January 27, 1997.

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