The Beggars Opera and the Voice of the People

by Judyth Vary Baker

By the middle of the 17th century, though Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth are remembered together today as iconic figures in the great plays and dramas we still enjoy today, Puritanism and the Plague nevertheless eventually united to close down British theater:On the 6th of September, 1642, the theaters were closed by ordinance, it being considered not seemly to indulge in any kind of diversions or amusements in such troublous times. In 1647 another and more imperative order was issued, in consequence of certain infractions of the previous one, threatening to imprison and punish as rogues all who broke its enactments. Close upon the heels of this second came a third, which declared all players to be rogues and vagabonds, and authorized the justices of the peace to demolish all stage galleries and seats; any actor discovered in the exercise of his vocation should for the first offense be whipped, for the second be treated as an incorrigible rogue, and every person found witnessing the performance of a stage play should be fined five shillings. (Baker, 34-35) With the Restoration in 1660, theaters were once again established. By the first half of the 18th century, they were thriving. Powerful voices now defended the theater, inspired by the dire need for entertainment hat existed in London, as well as by the memory of the sufferings of the persecuted artists and writers of the past. With the expansion of the theater once more, opera came to the fore, through social and cultural elements that gave rise to the English operatic project, including the dramatists urge to write in an era when drama was banned,,. (Stack, 2)

Plays and operas had become increasingly secular, women had moved into visible public positions as actresses and singers, and urban growth created opportunities to display the theater arts to a steadily-growing middle class. The opportunity for social mobility was now available to many, by means of marriage or new money. Theatrical productions became lavish once more. Italian and French operas became pompous shows, often with little real substance.

Perhaps John Gay, certainly not noble by birth, must have grown tired of too many empty operatic displays. And certainly he was able to take advantage of his knowledge of the middle and lower classes to create a work of entertainment that was not only enjoyable, but also made perfect sense to those patrons who filled the cheaper seats.

Gay wrote the libretto and composer Johann Christoph Pepusch adapted the music, plucked mostly from earlier popular songs and dances to grace an opera in strict contrast to those high-falutin Italian and French productions of the same name. For Gays opera was different. Very different. .Gay not only appropriated a Bully Pulpit for his political and social views, but he successfully delivered them, in one of the most scathing indictments against human greed and corruption the world has ever enjoyed: if a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down this was sweet medicine, indeed. The Beggars Opera was the very first ballad opera -- bawdy, earthy, and fun as hell. Todays comedic moral musicals My Fair Lady, Kiss Me, Kate, The Rocky Horror Show, and The Sound of Music are modern cousins of The Beggars Opera. But there is a dark side to Gays masterpiece which would be developed through The Three Penny Opera and its spin-offs. Modern dark moral musicals include The Phantom of the Opera, Evita, Les Miserables, Fiddler on the Roof, West Side Story, and Jesus Christ, Superstar.

Gays concerns were well-founded. He set out to expose the failures of the English social and political system that had yet to take to heart John Drydens call for reform at he turn of the century, just twenty-seven years earlier:

All, all of a piece throughout:

Thy chase had a Beast in View;

Thy Wars brought nothing about;

Thy lovers were all untrue.

Tis well an Old Age is out,

And time to begin a New.

(Dryden:The Secular Masque from Perry, 92)

We know that operarelied upon four principal sources of income: a yearly subsidy from the kingyearly subscribersbox-office receipts, and grants from other opera patrons at the end of the season (Scouten, lxviii) and it could be most unwise to distress these supporters by mounting direct accusations, however justifiable, even under the guise of an opera. Only a decade later, Henry Fielding would provoke a crackdown on theatrical productions via Robert Walpole, the proud Whig statesman who, as prime minister, dominated British politics in Gays world as well.

Fielding delivered lines with more impact than innuendo in his production The Historical Register for the year 1736 -- a blatant advertisement that Fielding was aiming his arrows at Walpoles administration. What else could Walpole do, confronted, in troublous times, with such newspaper remarks as Among many (others)he (Fielding) created one called Quidem, a fiddler, who made people dance to his tune by means of bribes. (Roose-Evans, 55). Fielding had exercised more recklessness than cleverness in aiming those poisoned barbs, whereas John Gay was so successful (after initial difficulties) that The beggars Opera became the most popular opera of the century, inspiring many imitations then and ever since. Gay had touched a common chord amongst humankind, a true touch that would retain its relevance not only in Gays era, but for generations following. The Beggars Opera remains a work that continues to reach audiences worldwide, as the following examples (from among many) for the year 2010 help illustrate:

The Beggar's Opera - Royal Opera House Many different versions have been made of The Beggar's Opera, ... City of London Sinfonia and in a new production directed by Justin Waywww.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=8149Opera Theater Oregon : Home The Beggar's Opera. February 2010: Das Rheingold. May 2010: ... and you've got Opera Theater Oregon's world premiere production of "The Beggar's Opera." ...www.operatheateroregon.com/shows.html

The Beggar's Opera on Broadway - BroadwayWorld.com

The Beggar's Opera TicketsThe Beggar's Opera ... for the 2009-2010 season. ...broadwayworld.com/shows/?showid=2764

Yokohama Theatre Group - Japan - calendar YTG activities and productions over the 2009/2010 season. The Beggar's Opera will also be the first YTG-only event (not a co-production) ...www.yokohama-theatre.com/?page=10&lang=1&mode...

"The Beggar's Opera" (Opera Nishchikh) plays March 31 at 7 P.M. at the Vakhtangov Theater, ...www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/brecht-bereft-of.../214127.htmlWe should take into consideration the financial problems faced by many nations on a global scale due to the banking scandals and meltdowns which helped spur on these productions. Five years on, we can look at productions of The Beggars Opera /Threepenny Opera for 2014-2015, when the media tells us that we have more economic stability, but with a continuance of war, suffering, corruption and suicide bombings occurring in the ravaged Middle East, with a greater awareness of general corruption and the stagnation of wages in the USA and Great Britain, we note that The Beggars Opera/Threepenny Opera once again was used to portray the current economic and political woes:Examlpe, Great Britain: Feb. 28, 2014: Review: Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's musical masterpiece, The Threepenny Opera, is the forerunner to many modern musical theatre works and originates from John Gay's musical satire, The Beggars' Opera, written in 1728. Peter Rowe of Ipswich's New Wolsey Theatre and Graeae's Jenny Sealey have collaborated to bring an anarchic version of Brecht's theatrical vision to a breadth of regional theatres.The work still has economic and social parallels today and this exciting new, decidedly rock'n'roll production by Graeae brings the story bang up-to-date, reflecting current economic problems in the UK through text, songs, terrific projections and protest banners on the auditorium walls. Threepenny Opera is at Nottingham Playhouse until March 8, then New Wolsey Theatre, March 11-22, Birmingham Repertory Theatre, March 27-April 12 and West Yorkshire Playhouse, April 25-May 10. See nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk for full details.Example, United States: April 29, 2014, in Washington, DC, the Signature Theaters MAX Theater : Focusing on a clash between the haves and the have-nots intermixed with the antiheroic adventures of the criminal Macheath, Threepenny Opera is the ultimate criticism of capitalism and inequalitythemes that Director Gardiner notes are still as relevant as ever: We live in a world of inequality. There is no question about that. The gap between the haves and the have-nots has never been wider in America. Because of that, Weill and Brechts scathing satire feels as relevant today as it ever has, and MacDonald and Sams adaptation of this classic piece retells the tale of Macheath for a modern audience in a truly thrilling and immediate way. (http://dcmetrotheaterarts.com/2014/04/29/threepenny-opera-signature-theatre/)

While theres no doubt that a number of defanged versions polluted American stages with uninspired clones of the operas from the past, productions from colleges and universities, in particular, reinterpreted and reinvented the operas to make them more relevant to todays audiences.

April 2014 saw Frank Theatre bring the show to the Southern Theater in Minneapolis, where it ran through May 4. The best critical piece ran like this: any production of this or any other Brecht work should start with the expectation that the producers/director will consider and embody current political and social realities. Brecht himself expected no less. This production does just that, shining an eerie spotlight on the easy re-emergence in our era of societal values not considered morally defensible since the Gilded Age. While entertaining and even, ironically, fun, the production raises the question in my mind as to which despicable characters in Threepenny Opera I disapprove of most and why. In the end, I conclude that whoever it is and whatever the reasons, I must indict myself alongside them, because I know all too well the types of justifications and compromises they all offer for their moral failings. Most of us readily use them to disclaim much responsibility for the common good, particularly for common good that includes those already on society's margins or beyond. The play holds up a mirror, not for us to admire ourselves, but perhaps to actually see ourselves as we are vis a vis our fellow human beings, many of whom we may rarely really see or think about.

Bravo to Frank Theatre for their first 25 years and for having the courage, wisdom, and skill to offer our community another compelling opportunity to both enjoy and learn from Brecht's Threepenny Opera.

The famed painting by Hogarth, where Mcheaths two favorite wives beg for his life.BAWDY BALLADS We will only briefly touch upon the content of the ballads employed to convey some timeless messages, since there is so much territory to cover concerning The Three Penny Opera and The Mack two very interesting spin-offs from The Beggars Opera that reverberate for us in modern times. To get a taste of how Gay rewrote the lyrics of familiar and popular songs, we will look at two examples. Greensleeeves is an old, old song still heard today, with its own spin-offs into Christmas carols, etc. One version of its lyrics in Gays time (using our modern alphabet):Alas my love, ye do me wrong,to cast me off discurteously:And I have loved you so longDelighting in your companie.Greensleeves was all my joy,Greensleeves was my delight:Greensleeves was my heart of gold,And who but Ladie Greensleeves.

(Ref: http://www.the-tudors.org.uk/lady-greensleeves.htm)Gay took Greensleeves to a new level (low, not high): our hero, Macheath, is a convicted highwayman, robber and bigamist several times over. He sings to the tune of Green Sleeves, contemplating the fact that he is about to be hung on Londons infamous gibbet the Tyburn tree:

Act III, Scene xiii, Air XXVIIGreen SleevesSince laws were made, for every degree,

To curb vice in others, as well as me,

I wonder we hant better company

Upon Tyburn tree.

But gold from law can take out the sting;

And if rich men, like us, were to swing,

Twould thin the land, such numbers to string

Upon Tyburn tree. Gay was not averse to changing the lyrics of even a funny, popular ditty. For example, A Soldier and a Sailor was already well-known from the hit classic comedy Love for Love (1695) by William Congreve (1670-1729). Its tune was written by John Eccles (1668-1735):A Soldier and a SailorA Tinker and a Tailor,Had once a doubtful Strife, Sir,To make a Maid a Wife, Sir,Whose Name was Buxom Joan,Whose Name was Buxom Joan.For now the Time is endedWhen she no more intendedTo lick her Chops at Men, Sir,And gnaw the Sheets in vain, Sir.And lie o' Nights alone,And lie o' Nights alone. Air XI. A Fox May Steal Your Hens A fox may steal your hens, sir,A whore your health and pence, sir,Your daughter rob your chest, sir,Your wife may steal your rest, sir,A thief your goods and plate.But this is all but picking,With rest, pence, chest and chicken;-It ever was decreed, sir,-If lawyer's hand is fee'd, sir,-He steals your whole estate I have to admit astonishment when I first understood what Gay had dared to do, but when I researched when and where The Beggars Opera and its offshoots have been produced, I was in for a surprise. Ever since Gays era, these productions have continued to reach wide swathes of the worlds theater-going audiences, especially during those times when their government was failing them and revolution was in the air. John Richardson suggests that Gays unconventional operatic form was itself defiant:The Beggars Operaarticulates dissent through form as much as through content. It resists mercantilism.the Robinocracythe entire age not just by reflecting them in a satiric glass, but by manipulating genre, skewing language, and defying expectations of form. Critics have generally not focused upon the plays form as part of its politics.

(Abstract, The Beggars Opera and Forms of Resistance, Eighteenth Century Life, Vol. 24, No. 3, Fall 2000, pp 19-30)

Wherever an artistic community with access to heater has experienced more than ordinary difficulties concerning personal liberties, oppression of the poor, corruption in government and issues concerning human rights, especially freedom of speech, The Beggars Opera is likely to be performed. Typically, it is likely to be performed with altered lyrics representing the intolerables in that society, and typically, the production is likely to get the sponsors and actors in trouble with the offended. An especially virulent version, written by Vaclav Havel, was closed down by authorities almost as soon as it hit the stage. This Amazon.com review by The Library Journal explains why: Czech Republic President Havel's 1975 adaptation of British dramatist John Gay's 1728 political satire, The Beggar's Operamade him a blacklisted dissenter in the Czech Communist regime. the play satirizes collectivism, lack of individual identity and freedom, and the mistrust and corruption prevalent in Communist Czechoslovakia. The bigamous hero-rogue Captain Macheath saves his neck by joining the wheeling-and-dealing, double-crossing practices of the underworld, while pickpocket Havey Filch remains true to himself until death. In the introduction, Peter Stein (Univ. of Pennsylvania) provides an analysis of the play in its literary and political context.the play's November 1, 1975 premier, was secretly staged near Prague [with] consequent political persecution. Also included are 11 black-and-white photographs of the premier.(http://www.amazon.com/Beggars-Opera-Vaclav-Havel/dp/0801438330#noop )

In 2012, the Vclav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent was established by the Human Rights Foundation (HRF) In New York. Pragues airport (Letit Vclava Havla Praha), bearing Vaclav Havels name, also provides a stunning experience when one encounters a super-modern kiosk, appropriately honoring Havel, who became the Czech Republics first President (2014), On Dec. 20, 2011, Fero Feni, a well-known film director in the Slav region, circulated a petition to the Czech government and Parliament to rename Prague Ruzyn Airport the Vclav Havel International Airport. Quickly, over 80,000 signatures secured the name change (see http://vaclavhavelairport.com/ and http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-19854293 for more information ). The airport was officially renamed on October 2012, the anniversary of Havels 76th birthday. Havel died the year before.The importance of The Threepenny Opera as rewritten by Vaclav Havel and performed under threat of arrest, is underscored by the historic events of 1989, The Velvet Revolution when the Czech people revolted successfully and peacefully against the Soviet Union under Vaclavs leadership. The intensity and rapidity of the change is recounted here, in part:The theatre behind the Velvet Revolution

17 November 09 07:56 GMT

By John Murphy Producer, 1989: Simpson Returns

A little-known theatre company took centre-stage in the Czechoslovak revolution of 1989. "Marie remembers it better than me but, apparently, I came from stage right," says Petr Eckl, the stage manager of the Magic Lantern Theatre Company. "I had a bottle of champagne in my hand but I don't remember opening it."

"Yes, yes, you opened the bottle. I remember it really clearly," Marie Sucha, the theatre company's head of costumes confirms excitedly. "And we gave you two glasses from the costume department."

It was the first time in years that they had returned to Prague's Theatre Without a Balustrade, where the Magic Lantern was based in those heady days of the Velvet Revolution in 1989.

Theatre becomes headquartersThe Berlin Wall had already fallen but there was little outward sign that Czechoslovakia's old Communist guard was going to be shifted.

That was until 17 November, when the police violently broke up a student march, which the authorities had previously approved.

Within a couple of days, hundreds of thousands of people joined huge demonstrations in Prague's Wenceslas Square.

The dissident movement and others quickly formed Civic Forum, with the playwright Vaclav Havel as moral leader.

They realised they needed a base, and a lighting technician suggested they use the Magic Lantern's home, the Theatre Without a Balustrade.

Then on 28 November 1989 Petr Eckl's famous bottle of champagne was cracked open. The nightly Civic Forum press conference had just been interrupted with the news that the Communist leadership was resigning en masse.

In effect, it was Czechoslovakia's Berlin Wall moment. Sharing in the celebrations on stage that night was not just Vaclav Havel, but also the hero of the Prague Spring of 1968, Alexander Dubcek.

Special phone"I was just astonished to be part of something so incredible," Petr recalls. "I was no dissident and no revolutionary, but I can say that 90% of the people in the theatre supported what was going on.

"We were a bit naive in some ways," he admits. "We just rushed about, dreaming up things to do. We buttered bread, we collected money, handed out leaflets. The ballet girls acted as runners between different theatres, since there was an actors' strike, and some people did security."

Marie explains that for her "in some ways it was that feeling of things coming to fruition."

"I had taken part in a lot of the demonstrations earlier in the year, and suddenly the regime was actually undergoing change," she says.

As Petr and Marie wander through the underground corridors behind the stage, memories come flickering back.

Petr remembers they set up a special phone "just in case the whole thing went lopsided and the secret police stormed the place."

The idea, they say, was to "lock Vaclav Havel in a room and he could make a last call to Radio Free Europe or the BBC". (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/mobile/europe/8362596.stm) Six years earlier, a politically correct version of The Beggars Opera, starring Roger Daltry as Macheath, was made by BBC for television audiences during a period of sharply increased taxes and other problems (1983). Of that production, one reviewer wrote:Gay didn't write just another British working-class grumble about real or fancied oppression by everybody in sight, as this production has it. He crafted a sly, funny dig at the upper classes as aped by the lowest: outcasts, thieves and scalawags.

He recommended an older version, made in 1953, available only by special order from Warner and outlets:

Baker, Henry Barton. from English Actors: From Shakespeare to Macready. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1879. pp. 34-35. Today, we have as much need for The Beggars Opera and the Threepenny Opera as we have ever had. Human nature doesnt change: we will always have corruption, scalawags, whores, con-men and thieves at every level of society. So long as the freedom exists to modify these plays to reflect the moral and political problems afflicting modern society, the voice of the people will have a chance to be heard.