Main Title:
The threepenny opera / Bertolt Brecht; Edited by John Willett, Ralph Manheim; Illustrated by Ralph Manheim, John Willett; Translated by John Willett.
Imprint:
London : Methuen Drama : [distributor] Macmillan Distribution (MDL) : [distributor] United Book Distributors : [distributor] United Book Distributors : [distributor] Jonathan Ball Publishers SA, 1979.
Collation:
144 p. : ill. ; 20x13x1 cm.
Notes:
Paperback / softback. B-format paperback.
Summary:
Repackaged and reissued, this is Brecht's classic interpretation of John Gay's The Beggars Opera. It is a vicious satire on the bourgeois capitalist society of the Weimar Republic, married with the jazz music of Kurt Weill. The text is accompanied by Brecht's original notes. Based on John Gay's eighteenth century Beggar's Opera, The Threepenny Opera, first staged in 1928 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm in Berlin, is a vicious satire on the bourgeois capitalist society of the Weimar Republic, but set in a mock-Victorian Soho. It focuses on the feud between Macheaf - an amoral criminal - and his father in law, a racketeer who controls and exploits London's beggars and is intent on having Macheaf hanged. Despite the resistance by Macheaf's friend the Chief of Police, Macheaf is eventually condemned to hang until in a comic reversal the queen pardons him and grants him a title and land. With Kurt Weill's unforgettable music - one of the earliest and most successful attempts to introduce jazz to the theatre - it became a popular hit throughout the western world. Published in Methuen Drama's Modern Classics series in a trusted translation by Ralph Manheim and John Willett, this edition features extensive notes and commentary including an introduction to the play, Brecht's own notes on the play, a full appendix of textual variants, a note by composer Kurt Weill, a transcript of a discussion about the play between Brecht and a theatre director, plus editorial notes on the genesis of the play.
Review: "One of the greatest poets and dramatists of our century" The Observer.
Biography/History:
Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956) is acknowledged as one of the great dramatists whose work has had a considerable influence on the theatre. His landmark plays include Mother Courage and Her Children, The Threepenny Opera, Life of Galileo, and The Caucasian Chalk Circle.Circle. His plays and dramatic theory are central to the study of modern theatre.
ISBN:
9780413390301 (pbk)
0413390306 (pbk)
Dewey Class:
832.912
Single Copy
NCN (PLAY SET-P)
Index Terms:
German drama
Bookmark Link:
https://hampshire.spydus.co.uk/cgi-bin/spydus.exe/ENQ/KIDS/BIBENQ?BRN=2812761
