Greer Gardner

The Threepenny Opera was written by Bertolt Brecht and with music by Kurt Weil in 1928. Together Brecht and Weil sought to create a ‘new form of theatre’ where music and action were combined to express a satirical attitude that would illustrate the action on stage, making the audience aware of the theatrics of the work they were viewing.

This proposal seeks to toy with voyeurism, responding to the plays musical format where the audiences experience is interrupted. Projections and media montages supplement the action split between three different settings across the space, twisting the politics of a modern context into the original 18th century setting. Brechtian epic theatre techniques like gestus introduce this “radical separation of theatrical elements” and through this notion the timeless nature of injustice and precarity that are endemic to global capitalist systems are signified. The underbelly that Brecht presents in The Threepenny Opera is all too relatable presenting entanglements of timeless issues such as gendered violence, corruption and deceit.

Utilising a cabaret style layout the audience is embedded into a social event, employing the same bar that the players will and blending the seating arrangements into the set itself. This is a social event, and like the play it is not one that is meant to be particularly comfortable. The audience is crammed in, free to roam to the bar and to nestle into the chatter of neighbouring tables. The action is disperse across three walls of the venue, so one has to turn their head, or shift their seat to see as the play shifts from scene to scene.