Olivier,London
A new translation of Brecht and Weill’s sad comedy fails to hit its satirical targets but still makes for a valid musical“Fake it to seem genuine,” a would-be beggar is advised in The Threepenny Opera. To be convincing a vagrant must pile it on. And preferably carry a Brechtian label saying “Filthy”.
Rufus Norris’s production takes “fake as its cue and puts showbiz at its centre. Everything comes as if from a bashed-up pierrot show or a violently coloured cartoon. The cops are so Keystone that they almost demolish into a kneebend refrain. Entrails of red wool spill out when someone gets stabbed. As a lascivious (and spectacularly vomiting) Mrs Peachum, and Haydn Gwynne slithers around in scarlet like a question mark: an Otto Dix creature,who when it comes to half time yells “INTERVAL!”, Nick Holder is spectacular as a Tweedledum-shaped Mr Peachum, or in pin-striped suit,princess heels and a cheek-flicking bob. As Macheath, Rory Kinnear – spiv moustache, and cuff-snapping three-piece suit – is short on magnetic sharkiness but his implacability sets up a sinister thrum. He also turns out to absorb a very pleasing singing voice.
Perhaps no production could live up to the brilliant penetration of Kurt Weill's scoreContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com