The Threepenny Opera

E33400

adaptation musical theatre work play satirical work

The Threepenny Opera is a 1928 German musical play by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill that satirically blends jazz-influenced music with a dark, socially critical reimagining of John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera.

Aliases (5)

Mack the Knife ×2
Die Dreigroschenoper ×1
The Threepenny Opera (English version by Marc Blitzstein) ×1
The Threepenny Opera (film, 1931) ×1
The Threepenny Opera (film, 1963) ×1

Statements (49)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	adaptation → musical theatre work → play → satirical work →
author	Bertolt Brecht →
basedOn	The Beggar’s Opera →
basedOnWorkBy	John Gay →
composer	Kurt Weill →
countryOfOrigin	Germany →
creator	Bertolt Brecht → Kurt Weill →
firstPerformanceDate	1928-08-31 →
firstPerformedIn	Weimar Republic →
genre	epic theatre → musical theatre → political theatre → satire →
hasAdaptation	The Threepenny Opera (film, 1931) → The Threepenny Opera (film, 1963) →
hasEnglishTranslation	The Threepenny Opera (English version by Marc Blitzstein) →
hasPart	Ballad of Sexual Dependency → Mack the Knife → Pirate Jenny →
influencedBy	The Beggar’s Opera →
languageOfWorkOrName	German →
lyricist	Bertolt Brecht →
mainCharacter	Jenny Diver → Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum → Macheath → Polly Peachum →
movement	Weimar culture →
musicStyle	cabaret → jazz →
notableFeature	jazz-influenced score → social criticism of capitalism → use of songs as commentary →
originalLanguage	German →
placeOfFirstPerformance	Berlin → Theater am Schiffbauerdamm →
publicationYear	1928 →
setting	London →
theatricalStyle	epic theatre →
theme	corruption → crime and respectability → hypocrisy of bourgeois society → poverty →
timePeriodOfSetting	Victorian era →
titleInOriginalLanguage	Die Dreigroschenoper →
workPeriod	1920s →

Referenced by (9)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
The Beggar's Opera → The Threepenny Opera ("The Threepenny Opera (film, 1931)") → The Threepenny Opera ("The Threepenny Opera (film, 1963)") →	hasAdaptation
Macheath ("Mack the Knife") →	hasAdaptationCounterpart
The Threepenny Opera ("The Threepenny Opera (English version by Marc Blitzstein)") →	hasEnglishTranslation
The Threepenny Opera ("Mack the Knife") →	hasPart
Macheath →	influencedWork
Bertolt Brecht →	notableWork
The Threepenny Opera ("Die Dreigroschenoper") →	titleInOriginalLanguage