THE THREEPENNY OPERA

About the show

A fair in London’s Soho district: this is where the underworld comes to life, home to people on the fringes of society. It is also where Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum’s business thrives. As head of the beggars’ mafia, he not only controls the monopoly on begging licences but also dresses beggars in his boutique in pitiful outfits and accessories designed to provoke sympathy. His success is due not least to the charm and business acumen of his only child, Polly. No wonder, then, that he sees Polly’s marriage to the city’s notorious gangster Macheath, also known as Mack the Knife, as an existential threat. While Peachum searches for ways to eliminate his rival, Polly, Mrs Peachum and Macheath’s old flame Jenny take matters into their own hands. THE THREEPENNY OPERA, Bertolt Brecht’s best-known work, was first performed at the Pfauen in 1935. The acclaimed production by the Prague theatre company D35 toured across Europe and came to Zurich, where it provoked a strong response from the right-wing National Front: sustained street protests eventually forced the production to close. To open the anniversary season, co-artistic director Pınar Karabulut revisits the theatre’s anti-fascist tradition and brings Brecht’s satirical revue back to the Pfauen in a production as glamorous as it is witty.