The Threepenny Opera

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In interwar London, where poverty and corruption coexist alongside luxury and vice, Mackie Navaja, a ruthless and charismatic pimp and criminal, rules the streets with an iron fist. His empire spans brothels, bribes and crimes disguised as business. Meanwhile, Jonathan Peachum, owner of a run-down slaughterhouse, has built his fortune by exploiting the homeless, organising poverty as a calculated and profitable enterprise.

When Polly, Peachum’s shrewd daughter, secretly marries Mackie, a battle of interests ensues: Peachum cannot allow his daughter to be with a criminal he does not control, and Mackie is unwilling to relinquish his power. Whilst Peachum conspires with corrupt officials to send Mackie to the gallows, Polly proves she is much more than just a wife: she is a strategist capable of playing on the same board as the men around her.

The city is a slaughterhouse in its own right, where men are cannon fodder and survival depends on who exploits whom most effectively. Amidst betrayals, sarcastic songs and fiercely critical humour, Mackie is eventually arrested and sentenced to death. However, in an ironic and absurd twist, he is pardoned at the last moment by the Crown, reminding us that in a corrupt system, justice is just another spectacle.

With its grotesque staging, cynical characters and music that undermines any hint of sentimentality, this production of The Threepenny Opera plunges us into a world where everyone plays dirty to win, and where black humour is the only weapon against despair.