The Threepenny Opera at VideoCabaret

The Unbridled Theatre Collective proudly presents the iconic masterpiece The Threepenny Opera, by Bertolt Brecht, Elisabeth Hauptmann and Kurt Weill in a new English Language adaptation by Simon Stephens, May 8th to May 17th, 2025 at VideoCabaret in Toronto.

Originally based on John Gay’s 18th century ballad opera The Beggar’s Opera, The Threepenny Opera has long excited audiences with its unfiltered, confrontational narrative as well as its social commentary. Written in 1928, Brecht's cutting satirical critique of capitalism takes us through Victorian London where we are plunged into the seedy underbelly of the Savoy Hotel, Grape Lane Brothel, and Peachum's Emporium for Beggars. Timely and prophetic, Brecht deftly blurs the lines between a hypocritical bourgeois society, with its wealthy, corrupt power brokers, and the criminal underworld of cut-throats, thieves and whores.

It is here that we meet our seductive anti-hero Macheath, slashing his way through London, shamelessly ruining the lives of the women who love him; criminal entrepreneur JJ Peachum, a man with his own perverse solution to the poverty and homelessness crisis (that of course makes him a profit along the way - sound familiar?); and his daughter Polly Peachum - the picture of goodness - who shows us in the end that money and greed remain as alluring as ever.

“A scathing critique of ruling class barbarism and capitalist corruption” — The Guardian

Anita La Selva directs an unrelenting, full throttle steampunk-esque production that embraces the dark side of humanity with a bold and dynamic ensemble of performers. Kurt Weill's jazzy and seductive, cabaret style score including favourites like 'Mack the Knife' and 'Pirate Jenny' juxtaposed with La Selva’s gritty visuals, are guaranteed to linger long after the show ends.