Unlike any other opera, the so-called Beggar's Opera is not just one composition, but a lineage of adapted compositions, beginning with the original hugely successful 1728 political satire written by Englishman John Gay. Composers and writers have penned variations on it ever since. The most famous of these was A Threepenny Opera by Bertholt Brecht and Kurt Weill. Some things these compositions share in common is their setting among the poor and criminal classes, and the roguish character Macheath. This production is based on an adaptation of Gay's original by Vaclav Havel the freedom-fighter, writer and philosopher who became the first (and only) president of the united post-communist country of Czechoslovakia, and it retains many traces of its theatrical origins. Film reviewers were not too tolerant of what they called "slavish adherence" to the noted Czech writer's stage production, but theater, philosophy and history buffs may feel otherwise.
Credits
The Beggar's Opera Cast
| Name |
Character |
|
Jeremy Irons
He was 42, now 76 years old
|
as Prisoner |
|
Nina Divíšková
She was 54, now 88 years old
|
as Elizabeth Peachum |
|
Mahulena Bočanová
She was 24, now 57 years old
|
as Vicky |
|
Rudolf Hrušínský
He was 70, 73 years old when he died
|
as Lockit |
|
Rudolf Hrušínský
He was 70, 73 years old when he died
|
as Policeman |
|
Rudolf Hrušínský ml.
He was 44, now 78 years old
|
as Policeman |
|
Marián Labuda
He was 46, 73 years old when he died
|
as Peachum |
|
Petr Brukner
He was 48, now 81 years old
|
|
|
Kateřina Frýbová
|
as Diana |
|
Jiří Lír
He was 67, 72 years old when he died
|
|
|
Josef Abrhám
He was 51, now 84 years old
|
as Macheath |
|
Veronika Freimanová
She was 35, now 69 years old
|
as Lucy |
|
Naďa Kotršová
|
as Ingrid |
The Beggar's Opera Crew
| Name |
Department |
|
John Gay as Writer. He was 305 (47) years old when He died
|
Writing |
|
Václav Havel as Writer. He was 54 (75) years old when He died
|
Writing |
