Xiaonan Wu

I have chosen 45 downstairs because I would like to do a promenade style performance to give the audience the opportunity to walk around during the whole play. The Threepenny Opera has been performed for almost 90 years so I think it would be interesting to combine the traditional musical performance with the new form of stage and the storyline within this story. As the time has changed from the 1930s, I have decided to do a modern version of The Threepenny Opera by changing the clothes and the set of the theatre to a more modern style.

I have divided the area of 45 downstairs to several rooms included the jail, stable, Suki Tawdry’s house, Lucy’s place at the jail, Peachum’s outfitting shop for beggars, whorehouse and the Gallows in the centre. The reason for putting the Gallows in the centre is because the end of the play is about the hanging of Macbeth and it has also provided spaces for the audience to view the whole play instead of going inside each room.