THE THREEPENNY OPERA Comes to the Cockpit

OVO, the award winning St Albans-based production company, and The Cockpit, London’s theatre of ideas and disruptive panache, present an inventive new production of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill’s seminal musical The Threepenny Opera.

OVO’s bold reimagining of what is widely regarded as theatre’s first musical, supported by the Kurt Weill Foundation, marks the first time the show hits London since The National Theatre’s 2016 production. 

The cast of 13 actor-musicians, playing a total of 21 instruments between them, includes Mark Carlisle (‘The Crown’, Netflix), Lee Drage (‘Chariots of Fire’, Gielgud Theatre), Keith Lynch (‘Blue Lights’, BBC), Carys McQueen (‘Cabaret’ at the Kit Kat Club) and Annette Yeo (‘The Great British Bake Off Musical’).

This production is directed by OVO’s award winning Artistic Director Adam Nichols and opera singer and director Julia Mintzer (Welsh National Opera, Washington National Opera), with Lada Valešová (Royal Opera House, Opera Holland Park) completing the creative team as Musical Director and Conductor.

Translater Jeremy Sams said, “I always try to customise my lyrics for important productions of the Threepenny Opera. In spite of its historical setting, Brecht’s work could not have been more contemporary. The hypocrisy and corruption of the Weimar period were his targets, and it would be nice to believe that these factors are non-existent in our enlightened times. “But let’s be practical’ (to quote the show) “it isn’t so”. Particularly fertile ground for the satirical lyricist is the “Ballad of the Sexual Imperative”, which catalogues seemingly virtuous and powerful souls who are rotten with impiety. A couple of those get an extra nod.”

Co-director Adam Nichols said, “While it was written in 1928, and set in Victorian London, we have imagined another world for our production: a factory for musicals, in which The Threepenny Opera is the dangerous, disruptive younger brother of more conventional, saccharine shows.  This is the perfect time to go back to where musical theatre began and, with the cost of living crisis forcing ever more people to live on our city’s streets and celebrity culture dominating our daily discourse, we aim to show that Brecht and Weill’s biting satire and hummable tunes will never grow old.”

Director of The Cockpit, Dave Wybrow said, “The shows we create and produce are sometimes risky, often controversial, frequently left-field but always a conversation starter.  The Threepenny Opera ticks all four boxes and we’re delighted to begin our partnership with OVO with a brilliantly bonkers interpretation of this incredible show, which also builds on The Cockpit’s long track record of presenting bold and imaginative opera.”