The Threepenny Opera

 
The Pallas Theatre in Athens, Greece presents the Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill masterpiece, The Threepenny Opera, January 14-17. Internationally known pioneering director Robert Wilson creates a performance of perfect, cinematographically-designed scenes. This Berliner Ensemble's production is without a doubt a truly impressive theatrical event. The performance opened in 2007 at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm, on the same stage where, in 1928, the debut performance of Brecht's early work took place, and this January it comes to Athens, Greece.

The Threepenny Opera features Jonathan Peachum, the head of a flourishing business in London selling special "beggar equipment." The business, tailored to the poorest of the poor, is very profitable, but when he learns that his daughter, Polly, secretly marries the gangster boss Macheath (aka "Mack the Knife"), he is horrified. In spite of Polly's warning, the newlywed husband does not take precautions to leave the city but visits the whores of Turnbridge, who betray him to the police. He is sent to prison and condemned to death on the gallows. His execution seems inevitable. Unexpectedly, a messenger on horseback appears and brings royal orders to release Macheath and announces his ennoblement.

Art Deco lighting and an excellent cast transformed into white-faced, magic puppets offer a whole new approach to The Threepenny Opera, a milestone of the 20th century.