“The Threepenny Opera” (Die Dreigroschenoper) is a masterpiece by the famous German author Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), a different playwright, different poet, storyteller, director and theorist who also initiated the epic theater, especially emphasising the importance of personal judgment, personal action and striving for change, that devilish pacifist who revolutionised theatre with his critical, socially engaged work.

Among other things, Brecht’s dramaturgical technique of the V-effect – the “alienation effect” – declares its intention to encourage the audience to see the bigger picture, encouraging their critical thinking, which is crucial in today’s world of information and disinformation.

The courage of expression, the power of experimentation and the passion of engagement ensured him not only the position of the most prominent German playwright of the 20th century whose words resound from the stage with equal power today, mercilessly reading the truth about the world and time, but also an undeniable influence on contemporary European drama.

This satirical play with music was created in collaboration with composer Kurt Weill, Brecht’s constant collaborator. It premiered in 1928 in Berlin. The play is an adaptation of John Gay’s “The Beggar’s Opera” and composer Johann C. Pepush from the 18th century, which then enjoyed enormous popularity in London, but Brecht and Weill, almost two hundred years later, set the work translated into German by the female handwriting of Brecht’s friend and collaborator Elisabeth Hauptmann in a different context, in the aspect of their time and create a unique work! Namely, Brecht sharply comments on the social, political and economic problems of his own contemporaneity, which gives reason to the upcoming National Socialism to try to remove him from the stage and ban him, but at the same time it secures him the position of an undisputed classic of dramatic literature. Because epic theatre may be the past of theatre, but the image of society that Brecht creates in the form of a “grandiose fresco of marginalised people and their contacts with the repressive apparatus and the very top, undoubtedly survives, so even today it seems as fresh as at the time of its creation.” What “bothered” the authorities then, and what makes the work subversive even today, is precisely the choice of heroes from the bottom of society: criminals, thugs, organised beggars and prostitutes … By focusing on characters from the margins of society, Brecht, therefore, gives voice to those who are often marginalised and neglected. And that is one of the reasons why in this play it is precisely Women who point out all these problems. Actresses.

In doing so, Brecht does not insist on the didactic in “The Opera”, but directly shows and exposes the corruption that permeates society from top to bottom, the close cooperation of criminals with those who should be locking them up … In today’s neoliberal capitalist society, we witness phenomena that very much confirm the existence of such or similar collusion, pointing to the almost cynical character of our social moment.

The basis of the plot is an almost banal love story set in the underworld of Victorian London. It also follows the exploits of Macheath, known as “Mack the Knife”, the leader of a gang of thieves and a charismatic criminal, his relationship with Polly Peachum, the daughter of the king of beggars, and with a whole host of characters who represent different aspects of social corruption and hypocrisy. But it is precisely through such a story that Brecht relentlessly exposes the greed and moral degradation of all strata of society.

It is clear that our “Beggar’s Opera” is actually happening now … In a world where everything is subordinated to profit. In a world that renounces the right to solidarity, love, friendship and even empathy.

At the same time, Brecht’s ability to portray such serious social problems through satire and humor, to ridicule hypocrisy and injustice in society, makes “The Opera” both accessible and entertaining, regardless of the seriousness of the topics it deals with.

In short, Bertolt Brecht’s “The Threepenny Opera” still resonates today as a powerful warning about social problems and moral failures that are deeply rooted in our world because it raises questions that are still relevant in the context of the social, political and economic problems we face.

The play exposes injustice and social inequality, opening up the possibility for us to decide to be the arbiters of the law and our own destiny, and not to have these rights usurped by corrupt powerful people or bureaucrats who always act in the interest of capital and those in power. Do we have the strength to distinguish lies and manipulation from what is real, from the real problems of both society and individuals? Does anyone think they live in a perfect social system, while we are witnessing dangerously growing social differences? Because unjust systems always generate that minority for whom all wealth is too little and, on the other hand, those who do not even have what they need for basic survival … Is there strength, a common will to fight for a nobler society, to rise up against the terror over people, over human freedom and, of course, over the freedom of the spirit from which, after all, both art and a free society are created – these are the questions that this Opera sings about.

Željka Udovičić Pleština

You can download the booklet of the play here >.