My charming and beautiful spouse had a week long conference at Oxford University in England in early July. She graciously invited me to come along. And amidst other activities, I managed to see EIGHT shows in SIX days.
This is the first report on the shows!
The first show I saw was The Threepenny Opera at the National Theatre in London. The Threepenny Opera is by Bertol Brecht and Kurt Weil and, of course, was written in German and had its premiere in 1928, Its most famous song is Mack the Knife as performed by Bobby Darin - among many others. Except that Darin's version isn't exactly the one in the show.
The basic story is that Mr. Peachum controls the beggars in London - among other criminal elements. Macheath is a noted criminal with his own gang. Mr. Peachum's daughter, Polly, takes up with Macheath, much to Mr. Peachum's consternation. There is a coronation coming up which could be a big money maker for Mr. Peachum, and Mr. Peachum wants Macheath out of the way. Various machinations ensue and there are different endings for Macheath. The "play with music" is a critique and satire of class and property. It is a piece of theatre that all theatre fans should have at least a passing acquaintance with.
The National Theatre version was a new translation by Simon Stephens who adapted The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time to the stage. (That show is coming to Chicago and you should definitely see it). The National Theatre advertised this new version as having "filthy language and immoral behavior". And that it does. That it does.
So, I saw this on a Wednesday matinee. I do need to thank the lovely people at the Box Office. I showed up about an hour before curtain. They don't do "day seats" and the on-line 15 pound seats for the first row were gone. But, they gave me a terrific seat center stalls for 30 pounds which was a bit less than the face value. Lesson for attending London Theatre - always ask nicely at the box office for discounts! I did note that a middle to high school group was coming in and being seated in the balcony. Hmm. Did they know what they were in for? Well, I didn't know exactly, either.
The show was, to use a British phrase, bonkers. It starts out trying to harken back to the concept of the show as a "threepenny opera" or "beggars' opera" as the stage is basically bare. It is supposed to be a "cheap" show as opposed to "opera" that is performed for the rich and mighty. So, there are cheap looking flats and some wooden frames. There are no "full" structures. The flats and frames are brought on in full view of the audience by actors and stage hands. The band comes on with their instruments - moves around before taking up their station at the back of the stage and in full view of the audience. As the show starts, we see that a lot of the flats, it turns out, were merely paper. So, actors cut them with knives or burst through them. Midway through Act One, there is a coup de theatre involving a revolve that was breathtaking - if not in keeping with the "beggars' opera" motif.
But, the actors made this show sing - ok, that was a cheap pun - the actors made this show a success. Rory Kinnear is a noted stage actor (Olivier Award winner!) brings a whole bunch of charisma to Macheath. Macheath is a villain who holds sway over many - especially women. Kinnear sings pretty well claiming he found his "dormant" voice. He has a wonderful moment at the start of Act Two when he came out and said "Still here? You decided to "remain" [emphasizing the word "remain"] You could have decided to "leave". This got tremendous applause and laughter as I saw the show only about 10 days after the Brexit vote.
Rosalie Craig played Polly Peachum. We had seen her as Althea in The Light Princess when we were in London two years ago. She was terrific then. She is terrific here. Her and Macheath's entrance on a half moon being lowered from the rafters was the first taste of much "immoral behavior." Although a quick glance up to the school group in the balcony did not reveal teachers running to and fro urging the students to cover their eyes!
Haydn Gwynne was Mrs. Peachum. She was the original Mrs. Wilkinson in Billy Elliott and she brought class and laughter to the role. But, she was outshone by Nick Holder as Mr. Peachum who stole the stage every second he was on it. He wears high heels very well!
One positive and negative aspect of the show. Jamie Beddard, an actor with cerebral palsy, is in the show and in a wheelchair most of the time. So, it's great that an actor with that medical condition can play a role that is not normally given to a disabled person. Beddard has several stage credits as actor and director. However, director, Rufus Norris, has him speak in a way that is nearly unintelligible. Beddard may be difficult to understand in the best of circumstances, but it seemed like it was emphasized. And I objected to the the production overtly making fun of his speech issues. This made me very uncomfortable.
The last time I saw The Threepenny Opera was many years ago (ok, 1989) when the role of Macheath was played by Sting. Maureen McGovern was Polly. And, not only was Sting not in good voice, the whole production was terrible and boring and dark. So, I went into this new version with much trepidation. Luckily, this version was terrifically entertaining and had plenty of the promised filthy language and immoral behavior.
This production is going to be broadcast in theatres on September 22, so you will be able to see it for yourself. And I wholeheartedly recommend you do! Ok, right now, no Champaign-Urbana movie theatre has it scheduled, but it's likely the Savoy or the Art will have this NT Live production eith on September 22 or shortly thereafter. Here's the trailer:
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