Die Dreigroschenoper

Underworld figure Macheath, known as Mackie Messer, has excellent connections with his old comrade-in-arms and current police chief, Brown. As a result, he and his clan remain at large despite numerous crimes committed in the heart of the big city. In his personal life, too, things couldn’t be going better for the “gentleman con artist.” He’s rushed headlong into marriage with Polly Peachum. She’s not only his latest conquest but also the daughter of the legendary “King of Beggars,” Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum, owner of the company “Beggar’s Friend.” Mackie secretly plans to seize control of his new in-laws’ traditional business empire. However, his sexual promiscuity and web of lies lead to his downfall and ultimately land him in court. Can the justice system put a stop to Macheath’s revelry in the various forms of human depravity (corruption, nepotism, warmongering, greed, fraud, treason, and murder) during the trial? Or is everyone in the city somehow complicit in the matter?

Directed by
Viktor Bodó


by Bertolt Brecht (text) and Kurt Weill (music)
In collaboration with Elisabeth Hauptmann

Running time – approx. 3:10 hours,
one intermission after approx. 1:55 hours