MEMBER EVENT: The Threepenny Opera

Brecht and Weill turned to John Gay's 18th-century The Beggar's Opera to fashion this savage, biting commentary on bourgeois capitalism and modern morality. The bitter tale is told of the predatory outlaw known as Mack the Knife. He secretly marries the daughter of Berlin's underworld boss but is soon betrayed by his sinister in-laws and sent to prison.

After being freed by the police chief's daughter, he is again betrayed – this time by a prostitute – and sentenced to death. At the final hour, he manages a reprieve from the Chancellor, thus providing a menacing finale of ferocious irony.