Kurt Weill (1900–1950)

Brecht, Bertolt. The Threepenny Opera. 1928. Translated by Desmond I. Vesey and Eric Bentley. Foreword by Lotte Lenya. Grove Press, 1994.
Reviewers of The Threepenny Opera often mention its indictment of capitalism. Certainly, Brecht’s notes and “Tips” to actors suggest that is part of what he was after. He also says that he wanted to distance the audience from the action and characters to encourage it to respond intellectually to what it was seeing. Certainly, one could stage the play show more as an anti-capitalist rant, but the play offers so many levels of satire and parody, that to do so undersells. Its source, John Gay’s Beggar’s Opera, was a satire of Italian opera. Threepenny was billed not as an opera or a musical but as a “play with music.” The hero, Macheath, is aware that he is a pop star, and comes out singing his own pop anthem, “Mack the Knife.” Jenny, originally played by composer Kurt Weill’s wife, Lotte Lenya, appears as a character in “Mack the Knife” and is the heroine of her own fantasy in the play’s other pop hit, “Pirate Jenny,” a.k.a. “The Black Freighter.” Besides the aesthetic parody, gender roles get attention, just as they did in the Gay original. Characters seem aware that they are playing to the audience, showing off their skillfulness at greed, crime, and seduction. We can enjoy it all, without ever thinking of capitalism. 4 stars. show less

Brecht's complex critique of capitalism. Not unlike the Sopranos or The Wire, Brecht offers us a view of disenfranchised members of society who use the tools of capitalism to further their personal success (on the black market). The farce of it (or the tragedy?) is that capitalism is prima facie morally bankrupt, and that corporate entities are nothing but a conglomeration of Mack the Knives. Knaves all of them; exploiting one another to preserve their personal security.

Or is it only those who have the money who can enter the land of milk and honey?

There were stirrings when I read in David Simon's Homicide about the West Baltimore murders which didn't merit a line in the newspaper. Homo Sacer, Agamben

Perhaps a phrase in the Sebald poem offered a subtle nudge to this reluctant reader. Perhaps it was an image of Ho Chi Minh in Fredrik Logevall's seminal Embers of War-- the thin, proud leader speaking to a congress of the French Communist Party, all of them show more white, bloated and indifferent?

All those flickering images from Pabst's film--it is a shock that I didn't reach for this play before. The 18C play of John Gray is drenched in Brecht's mordant wit adapted, embellished and reborn with grim musings on sexuality and patriotism, emerging strident and timeless. show less

A must-read -- and I think a definite performance piece. The message is still scarily relevant. If you think Brecht is dated, I dare you read this play for its portrayal of poverty, crime, manipulation, abuse and all sorts of other themes that look rather familiar right now. Not to mention the great songs by Weill.