"Threepenny Opera' at the Arden

Although virtually all cultured people are familiar with The Threepenny Opera, the play remains elusive. When the Wilma Theater produced it in 1997, many audience members asked what it really was about. During a talkback after a recent performance at the Arden Theatre, many folks asked the same question.

The learning experience starts over with each revival, because there are many different translations and interpretations. The Arden is using an English translation of Bertolt Brecht's dialogue and libretto by Robert Macdonald and Jeremy Sams, respectively, that was first performed at London's Donmar Warehouse in 1994. This straightforward translation hews close to the 1928 German original— the easiest to follow of the four versions I've seen.

And yet questions remain.

At the talkback after the Arden performance on October 10, the audience seemed unanimous as to Threepenny's message, i.e., we should all be more sympathetic to the poor. But when Brecht and Weill billed Threepenny as "an opera by and for beggars," that was a put-on. It's not an opera, and the people it's by and for were beggars only in the figurative sense: They begged for applause.

The play is actually about gangsters and corrupt politicians. Their victims are beggars and poor people. The protagonists get away with murder and evildoers escape punishment.

Shock value

It's more accurate to see Brecht's script as a blatant intent to shock audiences, and its longevity is a testament to Kurt Weill's brilliant score. Even Brecht admitted, in rehearsals, that the music would make the show.

Its central character is a mass murderer like Sweeney Todd— but, unlike Sweeney, Macheath's conduct isn't justified. Threepenny Opera views its characters dispassionately and unromantically. When you enter the theater you leave Stephen Sondheim far, far behind.

Notwithstanding its limitations, Brecht's script provides a strong platform for Weill's music. And, oh, what music. Weill here captured the essence of German nightclubs with catchy tunes that alternated with anger.

Before he joined this project, Weill was known in classical music circles as a composer of instrumental music and operas. The music in these works is serious, dense and complex. At the age of 28, Weill must have sensed that he'd do better if he tried a different medium.

Echoes of Jewish music

In The Threepenny Opera, Weill threw in minor-key interpolations— plaintive wails reminiscent of European Jewish music. His mild dissonances remind the listener that the world isn't pretty. At the same time, Weill's dissonances are not extreme enough to be off-putting in the manner of Alban Berg scores for Wozzeck and Lulu.

Terrence Nolen, director of the current Arden production, utilizes a small platform stage and gives many of the performers microphones on old-fashioned stands that remind us of the theatricality of the piece. Terence Archie as MacHeath (Mack the Knife) sang well but failed to exude sufficient menace or tawdriness. Scott Greer is his usual charismatic self as Peachum, a corrupt businessman, and Mary Martello is solid as his wife.

Victoria Frings, as their daughter who marries the killer, pulls off the difficult trick of moving down the scale from operatic high notes to chesty low ones without a break. Liz Filios, Anthony Lawton, Rachel Wallace and Amanda Schoonover were other standouts in the cast. The production's greatest asset is the expressive playing of Weill's score by Eric Ebenga's eight-piece band, using the composer's original orchestration.