![]() ![]() Written in 1728 Gay’s restoration ballad opera is a masterpiece of satire, and in a bizarre twist this piece that lampooned both society and opera itself went on to create such wealth that the profits were used to build the first opera house at Covent Garden – an irony undoubtedly not lost on its author. John Gay’s speech for ‘the beggar’ at the start of The Beggars Opera is a perfect summary of the librettist’s intent and philosophy for the ensuing work and one that I have strived to maintain in this reworking of the original text. “I hope I may be forgiven, that I have not made my Opera throughout unnatural, like those in vogue for I have no Recitative excepting this, as I have consented to have neither Prologue nor Epilogue, it must be allowed an Opera in all its Forms.” I own myself of the Company of Beggars and I make one at their Weekly Festivals at St. “If Poverty be a Title to Poetry, I am sure nobody can dispute mine. Mother’s horror at daughter’s highwayman husband revealed ![]() With less than a month to go until the world premiere of our new SmallStages tour, Mrs Peachum’s Guide to Love and Marriage, we caught up with Artistic Director Richard Studer, who created the production and shared his thoughts about the inspiration for this radical reworking of John Gay’s 1728 original. ![]()
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