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The Threepenny Opera
PBrutal, scandalous, perverted, yet humorous, hummable, and with a happy ending- Bertolt Brecht's revolutionary masterpiece iThe Threepenny Opera/i is a landmark of modern drama that has become embedded in the Western cultural imagination. Through the love story of Polly Peachum and "Mack the Knife" Macheath, the play satirizes the bourgeois of the Weimar Republic, reveali...more
Paperback, 128 pages
Published
January 11th 1994
by Grove Press
(first published 1928)
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As a hardcore boho 'Beat' kid, I was raised with the soundtrack of Kurt Weil/Bertolt Brecht's "Threepenny Opera." In fact, Lotte Lenya was probably the first singing voice I heard after my Mom - who used to sing to me when I was a little child.
Many years later I read the play/musical and was taken back at its cynical look in how society works. It's an amazing piece of theater and the music is and will always be superb.
Many years later I read the play/musical and was taken back at its cynical look in how society works. It's an amazing piece of theater and the music is and will always be superb.
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English translation of a German play about bourgeois criminals, entertaining hybrids, middle management dressed in gutter rags. It was originally put on just before WWII in a Berlin dancing decadently on the edge of the abyss, and is in some ways apt for the current (Jan 2009) bankrupt America I live in today. I sincerely hope our current decline is not as brutal, nor our fall nearly as hard. Perhaps there is a prayer in reservation, some old medicine that might ward off the approaching reckonin...more
I have to say that this is one of the greatest things I have ever read. It is a play that is a fantastic reflection on the gutterly people that inhabit every city, and it shows a compassionate, entertaining reflection of them that criticizes the bourgeois and those in power. I think it also correctly showcases the true monster that is the human man. I think that, no matter what the man we are talking about, we all have the spirits of Mackie and Peachum buried somewhere in our hearts. This is a d...more
Jul 26, 2009
Shivering William
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
runner-ups
Yes, I only watched the movie, but the adapted play is out of print and it was way too good not to write a review on it.
I came across The Three Penny Opera in the nerdiest way possible. Yup, the comic route. The most recent volume of Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen has beggars and prostitutes belting out heart-wrenching opera of cutting morality and justified anger.
This isn't the first time Moore has led me to fine literature/stage work. After reading the first two volumes of Leag...more
I came across The Three Penny Opera in the nerdiest way possible. Yup, the comic route. The most recent volume of Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen has beggars and prostitutes belting out heart-wrenching opera of cutting morality and justified anger.
This isn't the first time Moore has led me to fine literature/stage work. After reading the first two volumes of Leag...more
Oy. I know. I basically stopped reading in November. That isn't the case though. I was reading a few other things but had tons of work to do (fucking end of semester!). Anyway I read this play quite quickly. I enjoyed it a lot. Our final full reading assignment for my arts and ideas course. It illustrates Weimar Berlin to a tee and also taught me a lot about the German anti-illusionist theater. I love the whole concept, I am even considering joining our German theater troupe next year so I can a...more
"Ihr Herrn, die ihr uns lehrt, wie man brav leben/
Und Sünd und Missetat vermeiden kann/
Zuerst müßt ihr uns was zu fressen geben/
Dann könnt ihr reden: damit fängt es an./
Ihr, die ihr euren Wanst und unsre Bravheit liebt/
Dies eine wisset ein für alle mal:/
Wie ihr es immer dreht und wie ihr's immer schiebt/
Erst kommt das Fressen, dann kommt die Moral./"
Was mir an der Dreigroschenoper so gut gefallen hat, ist, dass sie nicht (nur) von Recht und Unrecht handelt, sondern vor allem auch von den Charakt...more
Und Sünd und Missetat vermeiden kann/
Zuerst müßt ihr uns was zu fressen geben/
Dann könnt ihr reden: damit fängt es an./
Ihr, die ihr euren Wanst und unsre Bravheit liebt/
Dies eine wisset ein für alle mal:/
Wie ihr es immer dreht und wie ihr's immer schiebt/
Erst kommt das Fressen, dann kommt die Moral./"
Was mir an der Dreigroschenoper so gut gefallen hat, ist, dass sie nicht (nur) von Recht und Unrecht handelt, sondern vor allem auch von den Charakt...more
Can you believe that I read a book that had absolutely nothing to do with food or the old "how to be a better woman for my man" books that I can't seem to stop laughing at (and giving my female friends "advice" from)!? I know that I can't!
I picked up this book at Small World Books in Rochester, NY while on a trip that I made out that way specifically for used book shopping. Admittedly, I only purchased it because I knew that two songstresses that I rather adore (Nellie McKay and Cyndi Lauper) ha...more
I picked up this book at Small World Books in Rochester, NY while on a trip that I made out that way specifically for used book shopping. Admittedly, I only purchased it because I knew that two songstresses that I rather adore (Nellie McKay and Cyndi Lauper) ha...more
الأوبريت نوع من المسرحيات الغنائية كان محبوباً في الفترة بين أواسط القرن التاسع عشر حتى العشرينيات من القرن العشرين الميلادي. تطور الأوبريت من الأوبرا الهزلية الفرنسية ولكنه يختلف عنها في أنه يحتوي على حوار كلامي بدلاً من الحوار الغنائي، وعلى أغاني بدلاً من ألحان. وغالباً ما تكون مقدمة الأوبريت خليطاً من أغان منتزعة من العرض وليست شيئاً مؤلفاً مستقلاً كما هو الحال في الأوبرا.
الغرض من الأوبريت هو الترفيه وإدخال السرور على النفوس وليس إثارة العواطف القوية أو الكشف عن قضايا مهمة أو مناقشة قضية ذهني...more
الغرض من الأوبريت هو الترفيه وإدخال السرور على النفوس وليس إثارة العواطف القوية أو الكشف عن قضايا مهمة أو مناقشة قضية ذهني...more
Dec 31, 2011
Lina
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
adults,
manuscripts,
to-reread,
political,
male-main-character,
personal-favorite,
past,
owned-copy
The Threepenny Opera is a play I went to see in October/November. I instantly fell in love with it, and had to read the script.
Macheath, also known as Mac the Knife, marries Polly Peachum, the daughter of Mr. Peachum, the man who controls all the beggars of London. Macheath is a name well known in London, he is a notorious criminal, but he somehow always gets away. Mr. Peachum sees it as his task to get Mac hanged, he however meets great obstacles when it turns out that Macheat and the chief of...more
Macheath, also known as Mac the Knife, marries Polly Peachum, the daughter of Mr. Peachum, the man who controls all the beggars of London. Macheath is a name well known in London, he is a notorious criminal, but he somehow always gets away. Mr. Peachum sees it as his task to get Mac hanged, he however meets great obstacles when it turns out that Macheat and the chief of...more
I don't really have anything to say about this book. Read it in anticipation of the Robert Wilson production a Berlin company at BAM, which I saw last night.
Pretty incredible play. In terms of putting on a production that is unlike almost anything else, this is it. Obviously Robert Wilson is a big star, and skilled at what he does, but the text itself has so much potential in it, and it's fun to think about after seeing it all the ways you could push it out.
Pretty incredible play. In terms of putting on a production that is unlike almost anything else, this is it. Obviously Robert Wilson is a big star, and skilled at what he does, but the text itself has so much potential in it, and it's fun to think about after seeing it all the ways you could push it out.
As my first Brecht, I didn't know what to expect, and although it was not exactly what I had in mind, it was a great surprise. Taking into consideration I only read this, I suppose my perception of it may be weak, given that this was definitely meant to be seen. The entire discourse presented is extremely interesting. I was shocked by the tone of it, perhaps, given the date, as it is more daring that I expected, but that made it all the more amusing. The entire depiction of the morality of all c...more
Jun 10, 2011
Tanya
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-my-father-gave-me,
plays
We did this as a school production once and I had to sing 'Mack the Knife' at the beginning of the play. Also was assigned to sing some other ballads throughout and sing the closing number, which was fun. All in all, one of my most favourite Brecht plays for the messages in it and the action-packed script. This isn't a compliment to The Threepenny Opera, but can I just express my intense love for Brecht's views on getting the audience to think critically about a play rather than just watch it fo...more
One of my favorite plays. I like this particular English translation. I believe it comes closest to what Brecht's original German script. There's a foreword by Lotte Lenya which sheds light onto the development of an idea into a world classic. Desmond Vesey adds notes,"tips for the actors" at the end of the book, and his explanations of some of the more esoteric points made in the play.
اپرای سه پولی، در شکل اولیه، یک موزیکال است. برشت این نمایش نامه را بر مبنای یک اپرای انگلیسی نوشته که داستانش در دوران ویکتوریا در لندن اتفاق می افتد. ماچس علیرغم مخالفت "پیچام" که یک باند گدا را در لندن اداره می کند، با دخترش "پولی پیچام" ازدواج می کند. آقای پیچام از تمام قدرت و نفوذ خود استفاده می کند تا ماچس را به پای دار بکشاند. با وجودی که "تایگر براون"، رییس پلیس و دوست دوران سربازی ماچس، تلاش می کند تا او را از مخمصه برهاند، اما پیچام بالاخره موفق می شود ماچس را به پشت میله ها و پای چوبه...more
Mar 12, 2012
Brianna
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Brianna by:
Friend
I got very close to this play when I was part of a production of a version of it in high school, but I think the censored version lost some of its harsh criticisms of society that even now can be relevant. I think this play is great, but just reading it isn't enough. You have to hear it, and preferable see it to get the full effects.
When I read this I was already familiar with both Kurt Weill's music and the original Gay's Beggars' Opera that was inspiration for Brecht. The street life with characters like MacHeath and Jenny comes alive in Brecht's drama. Weimar culture was home to many artists who challenge both tradition and the conventional view of life. Inspired by their imagination and the political-economic upheaval that was taking place in this era artists like Brecht and Weill were changing the nature of theater and...more
I had read this and seen the play performed in college and wanted to refresh my memory. A very risque and cynical commentary on the human condition. It was made even more cynical with the release of Mac the knife at the end showing that the bad guy goes unpunished quite often, not unlike many news headlines we see today.
Nobody scares me like Kafka, but Brecht is weird, too. Maybe everything I ever read in German is doomed to activate the reptile part of my brain that says "Scary! Run away!"
One of the best known plays ever and one of the best. Kurt Weill's song The ballad of Mack the Knife after Louis Armstrong's performance started to be very popular.
Meiner Meinung nach eines der wichtigsten Werke der deutschen Literatur, nicht zuletzt, da Brecht und Komponist Kurt Weill mit ihrer "Oper" die moderne Popgeschichte maßgeblich beeinflussten.
One of Brecht's most memorable works, that gave us remarkable characters like Mack the Knife, Polly Peachum and Lucy Brown. The jazz standard "Mack the Knife" is dancing through my mind as I write this.
Bawdy, facetious, and unapologetically bleeding hearted, The Threepenny Opera is Bertolt Brecht's most playful and accessible critique of Western society.
2/10. I understand that this is one of the Great Masters of Theatre. I learned in class that Brecht made a tremendous impact to theatre and started his own theatrical tradition. I also learned that the whole signs-device and didactical bits were very novel in his time. But it really, really disappointed all of my expectations. I even saw it live and it defintiely was a flop. It did not deliver on any of the promised scandal or excitement. The musical pieces were random and did not add much. The...more
Manchmal, so auch hier, ist man leicht enttäuscht, wenn man einen 'Klassiker' endlich mal liest/gelesen hat. Dasselbe Phänomen hatte ich auch bei "Mutter Courage"... man hört dauernd was drüber und wenn man sich dann selbst mal durchgekämpft hat denkt man: "Das war's?!".
This play got a lot better after discussing the concepts and doing some research on Bertolt Brecht, epic theater, and the Verfremdungseffekt.
I can see this being one of the *very* musicals I can tolerate/enjoy. Would be interesting to see it performed live. Put a lot of what I learned last year about Brecht's philosophies on theatre into context
In one of the speech which belong to Mr. Peachum:
"...Since this is opera, not life,you'll see
Justice give way before humanity..."
"...Since this is opera, not life,you'll see
Justice give way before humanity..."
Compito delle vacanze per il corso di teatro. Mi aspettavo qualcosa di completamente diverso, ne sono rimasta piacevolmente colpita :)
Dec 14, 2010
Melanie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
auf-deutsch,
classics
After reading this play I had a dream that I was engaged to red-headed shape-shifter who could turn into a shark. Thanks, Brecht!
Am Besten waren die politischen Gesänge zwischendurch, hihi... ansonsten ist Brecht ja im Kern okay, aber eher anstrengend zu lesen.
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Bertolt Brecht (born Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht) was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director. A seminal theatre practitioner of the twentieth century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the Berliner Ensemble—the post-war theatre company operated by Brecht a...more
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“Denn die einen sind im Dunkeln
Und die anderen sind im Licht.
Und man sieht nur die im Lichte
Die im Dunkeln sieht man nicht.”
—
14 people liked it
Und die anderen sind im Licht.
Und man sieht nur die im Lichte
Die im Dunkeln sieht man nicht.”
“يا حارس السجن ليه خايف من المسجون
هي الحيطان اللي بينا قش يا ملعون
و لا السلاسل ورق و لا السجين شمشون”
—
9 people liked it
More quotes…
هي الحيطان اللي بينا قش يا ملعون
و لا السلاسل ورق و لا السجين شمشون”
