The Beggar’s Opera

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

   
The Beggers Opera - July 1943
The Beggers Opera - July 1943
The Beggers Opera - July 1943
The Beggers Opera - July 1943
The Beggers Opera - July 1943
The Beggers Opera - July 1943
The Beggers Opera - July 1943
The Beggers Opera - July 1943
The Beggers Opera - July 1943
The Beggers Opera - July 1943
The Beggers Opera - July 1943
The Beggers Opera - July 1943
The Beggers Opera - July 1943
The Beggers Opera - July 1943
 

43 beggar outer
43 beggar inner
43 beggars opera extra1

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