Bertolt Brecht

The Threepenny Opera (eBook, ePUB)

Redaktion: Willett, John; Manheim, Ralph / Übersetzer: Manheim, Ralph; Willett, John

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

Based on John Gay's eighteenth century Beggar's Opera, The Threepenny Opera, first staged in 1928 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm in Berlin, is a vicious satire on the bourgeois capitalist society of the Weimar Republic, but set in a mock-Victorian Soho. It focuses on the feud between Macheaf - an amoral criminal - and his father in law, a racketeer who controls and exploits London's beggars and is intent on having Macheaf hanged. Despite the resistance by Macheaf's friend the Chief of Police, Macheaf is eventually condemned to hang until in a comic reversal the queen pardons him and grants him a title and land. With Kurt Weill's unforgettable music - one of the earliest and most successful attempts to introduce jazz to the theatre - it became a popular hit throughout the western world.

Published in Methuen Drama's Modern Classics series in a trusted translation by Ralph Manheim and John Willett, this edition features extensive notes and commentary including an introduction to the play, Brecht's own notes on the play, a full appendix of textual variants, a note by composer Kurt Weill, a transcript of a discussion about the play between Brecht and a theatre director, plus editorial notes on the genesis of the play.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury UK eBooks
• Seitenzahl: 144
• Erscheinungstermin: 19. Februar 2015
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781408176641
• Artikelnr.: 42140864

Autorenporträt

Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) is acknowledged as one of the great dramatists whose plays, work with the Berliner Ensemble and critical writings have had a considerable influence on the theatre. His landmark plays include The Threepenny Opera, Fear and Misery of the Third Reich, The Life of Galileo, Mother Courage and Her Children and The Caucasian Chalk Circle.

Bundesarchiv, Bild 183-W0409-300 / Kolbe, Jörg / CC-BY-SA

Inhaltsangabe

Chronology
Contexts
- Historical, social and cultural
- Political and social climate of the 1920s
- Cultural context: the Roaring '20s
- Significance of the play for Brecht and for political theatre
- 18th century context
- 20th century context
- Britain vs. Germany; London/East London
Genres
- Opera/music/theatre - a new theatrical genre
- Adaptation - John Gay, The Beggar's Opera
- Hybridity: low- and highbrow, emphasis on fun, entertainment in Brechtian
theatre
- Satire
Themes
- Who is who? Bourgeois and/or beggar?
- Role of the institutions (police, royal family, state)
- Corruption, money
- Exploitation, human trade, poverty
- Morality, asocial vs. social
- Love and sexuality, prostitution
- Resistance and change
- Which opportunities for change are envisioned by the play?
Characters
Male characters
- Peachum empire
- Macheath
- Tigerbrown
Female characters and sexual politics of the play
- Mrs Peachum
- Polly
- Jenny
Play as performance
- Brechtian principles of theatre-making
> emphasis on dialectical theatre
> theatricality
> actor-audience relationship
> deus-ex-machina ending
- Music
> Kurt Weill's composition
> Brechtian opera
> The significance of the songs
Academic debate
- Central strands in scholarship (comparative readings, focus on music and
operatic genre)
Production history
- German productions (Berliner Ensemble; new production announced for
January 2021)
- English productions
- International success (and problems which ensued: misinterpretation,
commercialisation, etc.)
- Der Dreigroschenprozess (The Threepenny Trial by Bertolt Brecht)
- Simon Stephens's recent new version at the National Theatre, UK
- Joachim Lang's film Mackie Messer - Brechts Dreigroschenfilm
Behind the scenes
Interview with playwright Simon Stephens
Further reading and viewing
THE THREEPENNY OPERA
Additional texts
Notes