The Beggar's Opera
Beggar's Opera, The Author: John Gay
First Performance: 1728, London
Published: 1728
Genre: Ballad opera in 3 acts and an introduction; prose and songs
Setting: London, early 18th c.
Cast: 14m, 12f, extras
The Beggar tells the Player that his opera is not ‘unnatural, like those in vogue’. Peachum, who is both police spy and receiver of stolen goods, is dismayed to discover that his daughter Polly has married the notorious highwayman Macheath. He plans to deliver Macheath into the hands of the police, so that he will be executed, leaving Polly a rich widow. Polly warns Macheath, and they bid each other a fond farewell. Taking leave of his gang, Macheath is betrayed by whores and removed to Newgate Prison. Here he persuades the jailer's daughter Lucy Lockit, whom he has already made pregnant, that he will...
[The entire page is 406 words long]
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