The Beggar's Opera

A receiver of stolen goods informs on his chief supplier, setting in motion an increasingly absurd turn of events that climaxes in a parody of 18th-century England's passion for sentimental tragedy. In addition to its burlesque of the then-current vogue for Italian operatic styles, this satirical 1728 play ridicules a broad spectrum of political figures and social conventions, depicting crime and vice at every level of society. The lyrics of the airs in the piece are set to popular broadsheet ballads, opera arias, church hymns and folk tunes of the time. Its immense popularity provided funds for the Theatre Royal, Covent Garden, to be built and also catapulted its leading lady to fame. Influential prototype for Threepenny Opera. John Gay's satire of society, the administration of law and crime, politics, the Italian opera and other topics, with its mixture of witty dialogue and popular songs, was imitated by 18th century writers, criticized by those on the seats of power, but remained a favourite of the English theatre public ever since. With N. Playfair's 1920 revival and B. Brecht's and K. Weill's 1928 Dreigroschenoper, Gay's play has been a starting-point for dramatists such as V. Havel ( Zebrácká opera , 1975), W. Soyinka ( Opera Wonyosi , 1977), Ch. Buarque ( Ópera do Malandro , 1978), D. Fo ( L'opera dello sghignazzo , 1981), A. Ayckbourn ( A Chorus of Disapproval , 1984), as well as others such as Latouche, Hacks, Fassbinder, Dear, Wasserman, and Lepage. Apart from contributions by international scholars analysing the above-named plays, the editors' introduction covers other dramatists that have payed hommage to Gay.