The Beggar’s Opera by John Gay Arranged by the Settlement
15th-17th July 1943 at St Francis Theatre, Letchworth
The Beggar’s Opera is a ballad opera in three acts written in 1728 by John Gay with music arranged by Johann Christoph Pepusch. It is one of the watershed plays in Augustan drama and is the only example of the once thriving genre of satirical ballad opera to remain popular today. Ballad operas were satiric musical plays that used some of the conventions of opera, but without recitative. The lyrics of the airs in the piece are set to popular broadsheet ballads, opera arias, church hymns and folk tunes of the time. The story satirised politics, poverty and injustice, focusing on the theme of corruption at all levels of society
Cast
The Beggar : Henry Wilkins
The Player : Charles Bygrave
Peachum : Ken Spinks
Filch : Jack Hannah
Mrs Peachum : Gwen Spinks
Polly Peachum : Amy Vose
Macheath : Roger Powell
Robin of Bagshot : Arthur Clarke
Mat of the Mint : Alwyn Richards
Wat Dreary : Ronald Lister
Henry Paddington : Kenneth Coram
Jerramy Twitcher : Alec Barrett
Crook-fingered Jack : Selwyn Coles
Ben Budge : Wilhelm Baerman
Pot boy : Monica Townsend
Mrs Coaxer : Christobel Thomas
Dolly Troll : Muriel Regester
Mrs Vixen : Elaine Tickle
Betty Doxy : Marjorie Routledge
Jenny Diver : Nancy Griffiths
Mrs slommekin : Dorris Barrett
Suky Tawdry : Margaret Thompson
Mollie Brazen : Rita Powell
Lockit : Harold Cook
Lucy Lockit : Florence Thompson
Diana Trapes : Mary Richards
Turnkey, Constable, Maids, etc : Alec Barrett, Selwyn Coles, Elsie Lamb, Monica Townsend, Grace Coles
Crew
Producer : Ken Spinks
Stage Managers : Selwyn Coles, Alec Barrett
Costumes : B.J. Simons and Co ltd, London
Mistress of the Robes : Grace Coles
Musical Director and Conductor : Dr H.F. Redlich
Chorus master : Leonard Burbridge
First Violins : I.V. Underwood, M.E. Barker, S.H. Constable, R. Hermes
Second Violins : K. Tudor-Pole, D. Howell, W. Hobart, M. Williams
Violas : L. Barker, W.R.H. Barron, L. Burbridge
Cellos : H.W. Mitchell, C. Hobart, N. Oliver, A. Francis, K. Atkinson
Double Bass : J. Ray
Piano : G.M. Leighton