Difference between revisions of "The Beggar's Opera"
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''[[The Beggar's Opera]]'' theatre programme, 1965. | ''[[The Beggar's Opera]]'' theatre programme, 1965. | ||
Revision as of 05:32, 8 May 2020
The Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera by John Gay (1685-1732)[]
Contents
The original text
Based on the story of the infamous British thief and jailbreaker Jack Sheppard[1], the play is a musical comedy about the love triangle between the highwayman Macheath, his fence's daughter Polly and the jailer's daughter Lucy.
John Gay's text uses music consisting largely of poplar tunes of the day, to which Gay adapted his own words. In the original production these were arranged and orchestrated by Dr. Christoph Pepusch, who also composed the overture.
The original version was first produced in the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre in London in 1728.
Translations and adaptations
There was a London revival at the Lyric Theatre, Hammersmith, produced by Sir Nigel Playfair, for which the music was freely rearranged by Frederic Austin.
Since 1920 there had been several "rewrites" of The Beggar's Opera and it later formed the basis of Bertolt Brecht’s immensely popular The Threepenny Opera (qv.).
In 1953 a Technicolor film version was made of Gay's opera, directed by Peter Brook and starring Laurence Olivier, Dorothy Tutin, Stanley Holloway and others.[2]
Louis Burke made a South African adaptation of Gay's play for the CAPAB production of 1965.
Performance history in South Africa
1922: Staged in Cape Town in 1922 at the Opera House by an overseas company under the direction of African Theatres Ltd.
1965: A production by CAPAB in 1965 was directed and choreographed by Louis Burke, with Joan Brickhill, David Holliday [3] and a large cast which included Fitz Morley, Paddy Canavan, Yvonne Bryceland, Frank Lazarus, Maggie Soboil. Musical direction was by Walter Swanson, decor by Bill Smuts, costumes by Joan Brickhill. This production was then taken to Johannesburg by Theatre International in 1966.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beggar%27s_Opera
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beggar%27s_Opera_(film)
The Beggar's Opera theatre programme, 1965.
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