George School Presents The Threepenny Opera

George School students, under the direction of Maureen West, will present The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht on Friday and Saturday, February 20 and 21 at 8:00 p.m. Join the George School community for an evening of free entertainment in Walton Center Auditorium.

Threepenny Opera tells the story of the seedy underbelly of early Victorian London. Based on the play The Beggar’s Opera, the show is a cross between an opera and a commercial musical. It follows the exploits of the mischievous Macheath or Mack the Knife, a womanizing gang member who earns the dislike of Mr. Peachum, father to one of Mack’s lovers. As the show progresses, Mr. Peachum tries to have Mack arrested by local police chief, Tiger Brown, not realizing that Brown and Mack are former army comrades and Brown has been protecting Mack from arrest and prosecution for years.

“Ladies are my one and only kryptonite. In fact, I get caught simply because, before running out of town, I make my weekly trip to the whorehouse,” said Sam Balka ’16 of his character Mack. “I am a strong, unctuous, womanizing character who leads a gang with whom I make a living stealing and killing when necessary.”

Performed using kabuki style makeup and exaggerated costumes the show attempts to break down the fourth wall usually experienced by the audience during a production.

“When the house is first opened, all of the actors will already be on stage or in the audience,” shared Sam. “Some of us will be getting into makeup and costume while others will be playing the audience in a different way (don’t want to give too much away). This part of Brechtian theatre is definitely interesting!”

“There is a feeling of inclusion that I think the audience will like,” said Noah Fischer ’17, who plays Peachum, the leader of the beggars and Mack’s nemesis in the show. “While sitting and watching when I’m not on stage I have felt very included in the environment that is created by the set and the actors.”

“One of Brecht’s goals was to make the audience always aware that they were watching a play. He did not believe that all the theatrical elements should be synthesized into a complete, unified effect. In an effort to free his audiences from this emotional manipulation, Brecht conceived methods of alienating them so that they could watch the work critically rather than passively,” shared Maureen.

“The set designed by Scott is not an attempt to reproduce any of the realistic settings of the story and incorporates screen areas for projections. Follow-spot operators are very obviously present and Linda Bee’s costumes are almost buffoonish, cartoon-like in nature, which complements the one-dimensionality of the characterizations brought out in melodramatic performance style by the actors. And the Kabuki style makeup, designed by Dena Kleemeier ’15, will hopefully further deter the audience from internalizing the characters allowing for a sympathetic rather than empathetic response.”

The show features set design by Scott Hoskins and the stagecraft students as well as costumes by Linda Bee. Jackie Coren, George School vocal music teacher has directed the music and David Abers has designed the choreography.