always is, “holed up with his tarts.” Polly thinks Mac’s friendship with Tiger Brown will protect him. To close the scene, she joins her parents in singing the first finale, “Concerning the Insecurity of the Human State,” in which they agree that “the world is poor, and man’s a shit.”

In a parody of the melodramatic scene in which two lovers part, Mac now hands over his “business” to Polly, giving her a rundown on the thieves, showing her the account books, and telling her of his plan to turn in the Gang and enter banking. She avidly takes up the role of gangster’s moll. Their sentimental farewell “Where shall we be on Coronation Day?”—ends the fourth scene.

Next Mrs. Peachum and Low-Dive Jenny both step in front of the curtain. Mrs. Peachum offers Jenny ten shillings to inform on Mac, who she is sure will be found with his whores. She sings “The Ballad of Sexual Obsession,” cynically undercutting the higher aspirations of males for being in thrall to sexual obsession.

In a well-known scene, Mac next appears with his whores in the brothel in Turnbridge. Low-Dive Jenny slips out to betray him, giving a veiled warning of women’s treachery when she reads his palm. With Jenny, Constable Smith, and Mrs. Peachum looking on, Mac begins the “Ballade of Immoral Earnings,” a nostalgic duet between the pimp (Mac) and the whore (Jenny). Mac is still dancing with Jenny when Smith accosts him. He bolts, only to find Mrs. Peachum and more constables, who arrest him.

betrayed by the whores, reads the sign that announces scene 6, mac is freed from prison by the love of yet another woman. Before he gets out with the help of Lucy, Tiger Brown’s daughter, Mac plays on Brown’s sympathy. He buys lighter handcuffs from Constable Smith and celebrates this small victory with the “Ballade of Good Living,” asserting that “one must live well to know what living is.” Jealous of Polly, Lucy berates Mac until Polly comes. They both claim to be his wife, singing the “Jealousy Duet.” The two “wives” exchange insults both polite and otherwise until Mrs. Peachum intervenes and takes Polly away. Denouncing “that slut,” Mac gets Lucy to give him his hat and cane. He escapes from his cage (to Brown’s relief) just as Peachum comes in to collect his reward. Peachum comforts the disconsolate Brown, then alarms him with a veiled hint that there will be a popular revolution during the Coronation. Galvanized, Brown summons his sergeants, and the scene ends with Mac and Low-Dive Jenny in front of the curtain singing the second finale, “What Keeps Mankind Alive?” The answer: “Mankind is kept alive by bestial acts.”

that night, reads the sign that proclaims the beginning of scene 7, peachum prepares his campaign. he plans to disrupt the coronation procession by a demonstration of human misery In parody of business organization, Peachum disperses his troops, and Mrs. Peachum turns down Jenny’s claim to the bounty because Mac has escaped. Jenny tells how Mac came to “comfort” her and has (she thinks) gone on to Suky Tawdry. Hoping to recapture Mac, the Peachums promise to pay the girls their bounty. Brown and the constables appear to lock up Peachum and his beggars, who sing the “Song of the Insufficiency of Human Endeavor.” Overturning Brown’s plan to imprison the beggars, Peachum argues that this act will only provoke a massive uprising of the poor. Unless Mac is on the gallows by six, Peachum threatens, the clubbing of six beggars at the Coronation will discredit Tiger Brown. After the curtain, Jenny comes out to sing the “Solomon Song,” in which Solomon, Cleopatra, Caesar, Brecht, and Macheath all meet their downfall as a result of their respective strengths: wisdom, beauty, courage, inquisitiveness, and “sexual urges.”

Now, under the sign property in dispute, at the jail Lucy and Polly, who are very polite to each other, try to discover Mac’s whereabouts, a question answered when Mrs. Peachum appears at the end of scene 8 to announce his recapture. Mrs. Peachum brings Polly a widow’s mourning dress since Mac is about to be hanged.

In the last scene, announced by the sign . . . again betrayed by whores, [mac] is about to be hanged, Mac comes in shackled. The bells of Westminster ring out as Matt the Mint and Crook-Fingered Jake enter to offer their help. They promise four hundred pounds to free Mac, who breaks in on the action with songs exhorting his followers to plead for his pardon. Polly enters to tell him that the business is fine but that she cannot raise the money to spring him. Sentimental but looking out for himself, Brown wants his account settled and goes off angry when it comes to only thirty-eight pounds. Mac now faces the Peachums, Lucy, the Whores, the Vicar, Matthew, and Jake. Jenny makes the first of the farewells, Peachum, Polly, Matthew, and Jake following. Mac is stealing the show from the Coronation, it seems. He steps out to sing “Ballade in Which Macheath Begs All Men for Forgiveness.” All exit, and then Macheath appears at the gallows with the others around. Peachum speaks directly to the audience, announcing that, since this is opera, not life, justice will give way to humanity.

In the third finale appears the “messenger on horseback” to announce that Macheath has been pardoned, entitled, and pensioned by the Queen “as it’s her Coronation.” Mocking the melodramatic happy ending, the play ends with Macheath’s reprieve and Peachum’s injunction, sung by all, to spare the poor, not to “punish our wrongdoing too much.”

In European and American theaters, Brecht’s dramatic techniques have become a movement in themselves. “Brechtian” covers such a range of dramatic devices that a short survey can only sketch them. To simplify greatly, in Brecht’s 1920’s Germany existed a tension between naturalism (or realism) that sought to portray life as it really is (was or would be) and expressionism that sought to portray the emotional dimension of life underlying surface reality. In the theater these two polar opposites produced realistic and expressionistic productions—the first opening a window into contemporary living rooms (the usual locale), the second, into anything from a factory with oversize machines to the surreal London of The Threepenny Opera. For Brecht in Berlin in the 1920’s, anything was possible.

The devices for which this play and Brecht became famous are led by the Verfremdungseffekt (alienation effect), about which much has been written. The aim of the play was to induce in the audience an emotional distance, an alienation or estrangement like that experienced by spectators at a sporting event in which they observe objectively. Emotional identification falsifies the play and the production, Brecht held.

To that end, as The Threepenny Opera amply demonstrates, Brecht took an established form—the comic melodrama—and inverted it, examining the cultural and moral values that made it work. In The Beggar’s Opera he found the perfect vehicle: an “opera” that spoofed the conventions of the operas and their patrons in eighteenth century England. Brecht’s treatment of that play is adaptation, really a new play, using song (with music by Kurt Weill) to break the dramatic continuity, further breaking that continuity by special effects, breaks in the logic of the plot, and abrupt reversals in the motivation and sympathies of the characters. Some of these devices are common in melodrama; there they reinforce the values of the larger society and encourage emotional identification with them. In Brecht’s play, reinforced by alienation, they cut counter to those values—the villain is pardoned, for example—and thereby the play invites the audience to examine and revise their social values.

Of his specific dramatic devices, Brecht is perhaps best known for the use of placards and songs to punctuate the play, breaking any illusion of a continuous photographic reality. Looking deeper, one can see a manipulation of dramatic conventions—the sympathy for the young lovers, for example, which, like every other conventional value one encounters in the play, is stood on its head.

*Soho

*Soho. District of central London in which all the action of the play is confined. However, locations within Soho change rapidly as the plot moves. Soho historically was infamous as an area devoted to crime, poverty, dissolution, and moral depravity. Interested in criticizing society at large, Brecht chose to set his commentary in a removed place and time, making a point about how little society changes and the universality of his themes.

Dark, dirty, and dingy, Soho is a metaphor for the hypocrisy that exists within all strata of society. Its sordid settings and characters reflect the world around them and add to the sense of depravity and disappointment with a world that allows such hypocrisy to exist. Within the context of the drama, the criminal element proves to be no worse than the middle or upper classes, the major differences being found in economics rather than morality or honor. The rich and powerful can perform illegal and immoral acts and escape detection, while the poor receive a separate justice. Brecht’s socialistic idealism is propagated by the play, and the setting enhances his message.

Germany After World War I

Just before World War I, Germany was rapidly transitioning from a rural, agricultural society to an urban, industrial powerhouse more dramatically than any other European nation. This surge in wealth, driven by a more efficient workforce, fueled a growing national pride. Consequently, Germany generously pledged unlimited support to Austria-Hungary when it clashed with the Balkans, regions it sought to dominate. This conflict eventually sparked World War I.

The Germans believed they had the manpower and technological edge to swiftly end the war. However, they did not anticipate the involvement of Germany's major European adversaries. After three years of devastating losses, Germany faced a complete defeat by the Allied forces, which included Russia, France, Great Britain, and, later, the United States.

German leader Kaiser Wilhelm II, after ousting the politically savvy Chancellor Bismarck, intensified European tensions to the extent that Germany found itself in an unwinnable two-front war against France and Russia, which bordered it to the west and east. The initial arrogance and honor with which Germans supported Austria-Hungary were entirely shattered by the time the German republic's representatives were compelled to sign a humiliating treaty at Versailles, France, in 1919. This treaty was signed in the Hall of Mirrors at the Palace of Versailles, where Germany had forced France to accept a humiliating treaty ending the Franco-Prussian War in 1871.

The financial burdens of the 1919 Versailles Treaty, including the $31 billion in war reparations, the emotional toll, the loss of civilian and military lives, and the crippling of its burgeoning industrial sector severely hindered Germany's ability to repay its war debts or rebuild its economy until 1924. At that time, an American businessman arranged for the United States to loan money to the struggling nation. The immediate post-war years saw rampant inflation and a pervasive sense of pessimism and bitterness over losing the war. This was soon followed by a period of rapid economic growth and indulgence, overshadowed by a lingering sense of shame. The dramatic economic decline, followed by a sudden recovery, only intensified existing class tensions.

During Germany's participation in the war, Brecht initially managed to avoid being drafted. However, in 1916, he was eventually assigned as an orderly in a military hospital. This experience left him with a deep-seated skepticism about the effectiveness of warfare. He, along with other German Social Democrats, found comfort in Karl Marx's 1848 Communist Manifesto. This political group aimed for a classless society to address the problems of capitalism and the lingering aspects of feudalism in Germany's political framework. Brecht, together with other writers and artists of the time, created Expressionist works that reflected the disgust of newly converted pacifists. While acknowledging the moral duty to bring about social change, these artists also felt the profound horrors of war, and these mixed emotions were conveyed in emotionally intense dramas, literature, and perhaps most vividly, paintings. Brecht's plays continued to delve into the agonizing decisions facing Germany as it moved towards the rise of the Third Reich (Adolf Hitler's Germany) and its subsequent defeat in World War II.

German Decadence

After Germany's defeat in World War I, an increasing sense of hedonism gave rise to the cabaret culture, a nightclub scene that epitomized German decadence. Embracing a nihilist philosophy—which suggests that life ultimately lacks meaning—young Germans engaged in excessive drinking, revelry, and sexual activities. Believing that their actions had little impact, regardless of whether they led a restrained or indulgent lifestyle, they acted on every impulse. In line with this philosophy and as a response to it, a rich artistic movement emerged, highlighted by the music of composers like Kurt Weill and the writings of Brecht.

This sense of decadence continued to shape German arts throughout the twentieth century. It is evident in the literary works of authors like Thomas Mann (Buddenbrooks, Death in Venice) and in films by directors such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder (The Marriage of Maria Braun) and Werner Herzog (Aguirre, Wrath of God, Fitzcarraldo).

Opera or Musical?

An opera is a theatrical performance that combines music—both instrumental and vocal—with dialogue. In this form, music is as crucial as the storyline and spoken dialogue. The singing technique used is called recitative, where the sung dialogue is adjusted from regular speech just enough to make it melodic. Characters in operas sing in this recitative style during the narrative, sometimes transitioning into a more pronounced song, during which the narrative pauses. If lines are spoken instead of sung, it is not considered a true opera.

In contrast, a musical features characters who primarily speak their lines rather than sing them. However, they do break into song and dance at specific moments throughout the performance. These musical segments punctuate the storyline. In an opera, songs are more seamlessly integrated with the recitative singing that constitutes most of the vocal expression. Moreover, an opera's artistic value lies in the exceptional singing talents of the performers, rather than their acting or dancing skills. Conversely, while songs in a musical may highlight the musical talents of the performers, they are not the primary focus. A musical is a blend of song, dance, music, and drama, where each component plays an equally important role. Sometimes, especially in film musicals, one performer may record the singing while another actor, who might not be musically inclined but can act, performs the speaking parts and lip-synchs to the pre-recorded vocals. This practice would be inconceivable in opera, where the singers' live performance is essential.

According to these distinctions, The Threepenny Opera is an opera in name only; its combination of spoken and sung parts categorizes it as a musical rather than a traditional opera. The musical genre originated in America in the early twentieth century, evolving naturally from vaudeville, which featured diverse acts like singing, dancing, jazz, juggling, mime, and stunts. American musicals were designed for pure entertainment. Jazz and "cabaret" style entertainment became immensely popular in Germany during the 1920s. Brecht adapted musical comedy and cabaret music to serve as tools for satire, similar to what John Gay achieved with opera in his 1728 work, The Beggar's Opera.

Gay cleverly combined a satire of Italian opera, which is often synonymous with opera itself, with the popular street ballads of London that had been enjoyed for many years. This creative blend resulted in what became known as a ballad opera. This genre took the melodies of well-known ballads and paired them with new lyrics, weaving them into a loosely structured plot. Gay's work humorously mocks societal pretensions, the aristocracy, and Italian opera. Conversely, Brecht aimed for his play to inspire genuine social change, but Kurt Weill's remarkable music led many to view it primarily as entertainment.

Epic Theater

Epic theater, also known as "open" theater, was Brecht's innovative creation. He envisioned epic theater as a "dialectical" or educational experience, moving beyond mere entertainment to transform the audience into critical evaluators. Brecht's plays are crafted to provoke the audience into action by challenging their passive engagement with the performance. He seeks to encourage "complex seeing," where viewers follow the narrative while simultaneously reflecting on the play's construction and the artificial nature of its characters. Brecht aimed to cultivate the audience's critical awareness, encouraging them to assess not just the storyline's events but the motivations behind the characters' portrayals.

Brecht disrupts the audience's typical passive engagement with the play in several ways. One method involves the actors making direct comments to the audience, momentarily stepping out of the narrative to share their personal insights on the events. For instance, Peachum questions the audience about "what's the use" of teaching Biblical proverbs if people become desensitized to them. The songs also play a role in breaking the audience's complacent interpretation of the story, as they either highlight or contradict the themes showcased by the plot. The song sung by Macheath and Polly following their wedding offers a biting, cynical critique, stripping any romanticism from their marriage ceremony with lines suggesting that "love will endure or not endure / no matter where we are."

Although Brecht's theatrical ideas greatly influenced future playwrights, his immediate impact on audiences was less successful. Viewers often empathized with his characters despite his "alienating" techniques. This initial shortcoming was largely due to Weill's captivating music, which many theatergoers found enchanting; the mesmerizing tunes often led audiences to perceive the play's events as fantastical, detached from their own reality. Critics have also noted the characters' charmingly roguish behavior, the twisted romance between Macheath and Polly, and Macheath's happy ending as factors causing audiences to misinterpret the play as mere entertainment.

1920s: Within a decade, Germany transitions from prewar optimism to widespread cynicism and intense class conflict. Political, economic, and social upheaval thrusts Germans into psychological distress, as reflected in "Black Expressionist" art, as well as in plays and literature that convey similar themes of pessimism and bitterness.

Today: The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1990, which was originally constructed in 1961 to reinforce the political divide between East and West Germany after Hitler's defeat in World War II, ushers in a new era of unity for the nation.

1920s: The war and rampant inflation exacerbate class conflict, creating fertile ground for the emergence of Hitler's "Third Reich" and its promise of a new societal order.

Today: Germany enjoys a strong position in the global economy and garners respect from fellow United Nations members.

1920s: Naturalist or Realist theater dominates German drama. Brecht and other playwrights challenge naturalism, seeking to replace the "theater of illusion" with a theater that encourages thought and social change.

Today: In Germany, as in the United States, Brecht's once-revolutionary dramatic techniques—such as characters speaking directly to the audience and employing open, symbolic (rather than realistic) staging and costumes—are now standard. While no longer shocking, these methods remain effective in ensuring that theatergoers engage with the performance thoughtfully, as modern audiences expect to be intellectually stimulated.

In 1934, Bertolt Brecht adapted The Threepenny Opera into a novel titled Dreigroschenroman, translated by Vesey and Isherwood as A Penny for the Poor (R. Hale, 1937) and later reprinted as Threepenny Novel by Grove in 1956. However, it was his theatrical play that garnered the most acclaim. Brecht revised the script for a 1931 film adaptation, infusing it with more political themes than the original 1928 play. This black and white German film, Die Dreigroschenoper, directed by G. W. Pabst and featuring Antonin Artaud, is available with English subtitles through Embassy Home Entertainment on video.

In 1954, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) released a recording of Kurt Weill's music from The Threepenny Opera.

Marc Blitzstein revived The Threepenny Opera in the 1950s, and his version of the song "Mack the Knife" became a global sensation thanks to singer Bobby Darin.

In 1989, Columbia released a film adaptation titled Mack the Knife. Directed by Menahem Golan, the film stars Raul Julia as Macheath and rock musician Roger Daltrey, from The Who, as the Ballad Singer.

SOURCES

Bartram, Graham, and Anthony Waine. Brecht in Perspective, Longman, 1982.

Bentley, Eric. The Brecht Commentaries, Grove, 1981.

Cook, Bruce. Brecht in Exile, Holt, 1983.

Esslin, Martin. Brecht: The Man and His Work, Anchor Books, 1960.

Esslin, Martin. Bertold Brecht, Columbia University Press, 1969.

Gray, Robert D. Brecht the Dramatist, Cambridge University Press, 1976.

Willett, John. Brecht in Context: Comparative Approaches, Methuen, 1984.

Williams, Raymond. Drama from Ibsen to Brecht, Hogarth Press, 1987.

Witt, Hubert. Brecht: As They Knew Him, International, 1974.

FURTHER READING

Bentley, Eric. The Brecht Memoir, PAJ Publications, 1985.
Bentley, who was the first to translate Brecht’s work into English, shares his experiences collaborating with the contradictory playwright. He ultimately concludes that, despite Brecht's peculiarities and personal shortcomings, he was indeed a genius.

Brustein, Robert. The Theatre of Revolt: An Approach to Modern Drama, Little, Brown, 1962.
Brustein argues that contemporary theater represents a rebellion against traditional norms, where plays traditionally fostered a sense of community or communion. In contrast, the theater of revolt challenges and seeks to overturn these community values.

Esslin, Martin. Brecht: A Choice of Evils, Methuen, 1985.
Esslin has authored three significant works on Brecht. This particular book delves into the dualities present in Brecht's plays and his character, emphasizing that Brecht did not offer a transcendent utopia but rather revealed the evils on both sides of political and social debates.