Thoughts on Three Penny Opera at the National

George Ikediashi, the Balladeer, with his wondrous baritone voice

I may have been sleep deprived and jet lagged but this colorful, cartoony take on Bertolt Brech’ts Three Penny Opera managed to keep me awake and engaged (except for a brief near narcoleptic moment toward the end of the first act).

Simon Stephens’s new adaptation is pretty much faithful to the text, though he updated several references to the war, Kandahar, modern British politics, and women’s role, thus managing to recycle the play for contemporary audiences.

I always believe it’s the ensemble in a Brecht show which deserves to be singled out first, and this one was extraordinarily good as well as being one of the most genuinely diverse casts I have seen on a stage anywhere in years, right down to the exceptional work of James Beddard, as Mathias, a role not usually given to an actor with cerebral palsy.
This was not publicity stunt but a bit of inspired casting. Mr. Beddard’s sleazy presence in his chair, rolling here and there at crucial moments to add juicy zingers in his unique vocalization style, made the crew of misfits and broken London poor folk all that more intimidating. His, “You know what I said, you fucking cunt!”, to Macheath, who denied he understood him while in jail was brilliant.

George Ikediashi, pictured above, as the Balladeer, opened the show with a measured, gorgeous, full voiced “Mac the Knife”, as the ensemble brought the lean, stark set to stage. Very post dramatic, very Brechtian, quite effective and funny.

My favorite part of the show was the dynamic and beautifully choreographed singing duel/dance between two of Macheath’s women: his “wife” Polly Peachum (played by Rosalie Craig, with a wonderful singing voice) and his scene stealing lover, Lucy Brown (the very talented Debbie Kurup).
Debbie Kurup, left, as Lucy Brown dominates Rosalie Craig, Polly Peachum

You need a strong actor to carry off Macheath. Someone who can be oily charming, smooth but also scary as hell. Rory Kinnear managed to be charming and smooth but he just didn’t have the presence and undercurrent of evil needed to make Macheath more than just a two dimensional bad boy.
a “pretty death” by a pretty boy

Still, he had a pleasant enough voice to hold his own in the songs and his technique is so good that I just decided to roll with it.

Much more effective as a really nasty shadow figure was the brilliant Nick Holder, who played the cross dressing Mr. Peachum, an under lord who really enjoys torturing people. And Peter de Jersey’s Chief Inspector “Tiger” Brown was equally menacing, while also managing to be genuinely poignant as Macheath’s closeted lover who betrays him in a fit of jealousy after finding out that his own “sweet” daughter, Lucy Brown, has been one of Mac’s many grateful conquests.

Nick Holder as Mr. Peachum, left, with the scene stealing Peter de Jersey, as Chief Inspector Tiger Brown

Also excellent was Sharon Small as Jenny Diver.
Pirate Jenny shares her side of the story, betrayal and all

Simon Stephens’s did what a few other adaptors have done, which is give the Pirate Jenny song to Polly Peachum in the first act. While Ms. Craig sang it beautifully, I really wanted to hear Jenny herself sing her own story. Those lyrics help set up her character and give us insight into her internal mind. By giving the Pirate Jenny song to Polly, we don’t get to actually meet Jenny until act two, and sure, the back story is ultimately fed to us, but something is missing through this approach. Let the woman have her own story, male script adaptor!

The band was motley and in fine form throughout. They moved seamlessly in and out of the action, filling out the numbers, and providing a Weimer sounding cabaret touch which I believe Mr. Weill would have been happy with. The costumes were colorful and very cartoonish, while a bit too “new purchase but distressed” in an effort to make them look ravaged and poor.

All in all, it was an enjoyable evening of quality theatre done by professionals who truly know their craft, presented in the upmarket Olivier Theatre, a space not necessarily Brechtian, but suited to many uses and one hell of a venue. I found the production a wonderful thing to experience. I look forward to bringing some of that energy home with me.