John Gay News

If the turning of the year is a time to think about what's important in the world - and how to challenge everything that's wrong with it - then audiences could do a lot worse than be inspired by the riotous Polly (The Heartbreak Opera) coming to Greenwich Theatre on February 14 and 15. Produced by Marie Hamilton and Sharp Teeth Theatre, the show reimagines the sequel to John Gay's The Beggar's Opera (which sees Polly Peachum heading off in search of Macheath in the West Indies where he is living as a pirate) for a 21st century audience.

'The Threepenny Opera' by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill is considered a masterpiece of 20th-century musical theatre. The UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance will perform the 1928 work Nov. 14-23.

'The Threepenny Opera' by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill is considered a masterpiece of 20th-century musical theatre. The UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance will perform the 1928 work Nov. 14-23.

At times verging on the absurd, this production of the Threepenny Opera (in support of the Wellington Homeless Women's Trust) is thoroughly entertaining, at times unsettling and indicative of the work's continuing popularity and relevance although the purposeful crude scenes, caustic wit and dissection of the hypocrisies of the bourgeois morality may not be for everyone.

"Bring it down. Bring it all down and start again!" An unexpected European election day in the UK and anticipation of Theresa May's resignation formed the backdrop for Kneehigh's London press night for Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other love songs), making its presence more vital than ever - and its message more potent. Carl Grose and Charles Hazlewood's show, which was first performed in 2014, is based on John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, taking the characters and hurling them into the present day.

We at Kneehigh aren't the first to refashion a Beggar's Opera for our times. And I'm betting we won't be the last. The enduring power of John Gay's extraordinary musical mash-up of high and low art, first unleashed in 1726, made an explosive impression on popular culture then and continues to do so now.

Opera isn't dead. In fact, it's alive and kicking off thanks to Kneehigh's reimagining of John Gay's The Beggars Opera, which takes on the new and riotous form of Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and other love songs).

The Lisbon Players are bringing A CHORUS OF DISAPPROVAL to Estrela Hall from May 2 to 18, 2019.

The Lisbon Players are bringing A CHORUS OF DISAPPROVAL to Estrela Hall from May 2 to 18, 2019.

The Lisbon Players are bringing A CHORUS OF DISAPPROVAL to Estrela Hall from May 2 to 18, 2019.

Mayor Goodman has been assassinated. And so has his dog. Contract killer Macheath has just married Pretty Polly Peachum and Mr and Mrs Peachum aren't happy. Not one bit.

Mayor Goodman has been assassinated. And so has his dog. Contract killer Macheath has just married Pretty Polly Peachum and Mr and Mrs Peachum aren't happy. Not one bit.

A revival of Mike Bartlett's award-winning play in Beng Oh's critically acclaimed production for Midsumma 2019 at fortyfivedownstairs.

Brecht and Weill's The Threepenny Opera (l'Opera de Quat'Sous in French) is one of those works that became the hallmark of its era. Its sound, its look, and its cynicism are pure Weimar. However, during the 1928 Berlin premiere, early songs such as 'The Ballad of Mac The Knife' and 'Pirate Jenny' landed with a shrug, and it wasn't until the 'Canon Song,' halfway through the first act, that the audience became engaged. All of this to say that The Threepenny Opera is a complicated play whose virtues might not be immediately evident to the uninitiated. The production at Avignon's Opera Confluence, as directed by Jean Lacornerie, comes in at a swift two hours without intermission. While crammed onto an over-packed stage and breathlessly paced, Lacornerie still manages to keep the action moving with style.

New York City Opera has announced that it will produce the world premiere of the award-winning jazz composer/pianist Ted Rosenthal's DEAR ERICH.  This new jazz opera, to be co-produced with the National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene at the Museum of Jewish Heritage, will open Wednesday, January 9 and will play four performances only through Sunday, January 13 at the Edmond J. Safra Hall at 36 Battery Place, in lower Manhattan.

Bristol Old Vic today went on sale with its Winter/Spring 2019 programme, launching a new season of inspiring, cutting-edge and award-winning theatre, set to take Bristol by storm following its ground-breaking Year of Change.

Kneehigh today announced that Carl Grose will be become Deputy Artistic Director for the company working alongside Artistic Director and Founder Mike Shepherd.

Mount Gay Rum Distilleries, the makers of the world's oldest rum, unveils the first edition of the Master Blender Collection with the launch of XO The Peat Smoke Expression, a unique and unconventional limited edition blend crafted by Mount Gay Master Blender Allen Smith. The expression is a complex blend marrying the aromas of ripe bananas and toasted notes of Mount Gay XO, with the salty and smoky notes coming from peated whisky casks.

Wilton's Music Hall, the oldest grand music hall in the world, today announces its 2019 Spring season - a glorious collection of theatre, and music from some of the UK's most exceptional companies and artists.

Luxembourg has welcomed a variety of interesting shows over the last months, but it has been a while since the public had a chance to see something as great as this version of The Beggar's Opera. This famous masterpiece devised by John Gay and Johann Christoph Pepuschm, who some claim to have defined our modern understanding of musical theatre, is often subject to small adaptations, in order to better fit a certain decade or national context. In this version, Robert Carsen and Ian Burton made the choice to set the play in modern Britain, using 21st century costumes and writing references to today's social and political environment.