The Threepenny Opera (English and German Edition) (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author), Lotte Lenya (Foreword), Desmond Vesey (Contributor), Eric Bentley (Contributor) "Beggars are begging, thieves thieving, whores whoring..." (more)
Key Phrases: song illumination, sexual submissiveness, Mackie the Knife, Tiger Brown, Miss Peachum (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“The Threepenny Opera and Mother Courage are the great plays of our time.”
—Lillian Hellman --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

Brutal, scandalous, perverted, yet humorous, hummable, and with a happy ending—Bertolt Brecht’s revolutionary masterpiece The Threepenny Opera is a landmark of modern drama that has become embedded in the Western cultural imagination. Through the love story of Polly Peachum and “Mack the Knife” Macheath, the play satirizes the bourgeois of the Weimar Republic, revealing a society at the height of decadence and on the verge of chaos. Complemented with music by Kurt Weill, it was one of the earliest and most successful attempts to introduce jazz into the theater, and the song “Mack the Knife” became one of the most popular and widely recorded songs of the twentieth century. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press; Mass Paperback Edition edition (January 11, 1994)
• Language: English, German
• ISBN-10: 080215039X
• ISBN-13: 978-0802150394
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #266,910 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 51 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A rather boring translation of the great Dreigroschenoper, March 1, 1999

By	Meik ([e-mail]) (Salzburg, Austria) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Threepenny Opera (Paperback)

One has to know and understand the original German text of the Dreigroschenoper to be really able to judge the quality of the English translations. This one, used among others by Helen Schneider on her album with Weill songs, has nothing of the sarcasms of the German lyrics. Better read the 1954 translation of Marc Blitzstein or the translation made by Frank McGuinness in the early 1990s.

20 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best translation to capture Brecht's intentions, March 18, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Threepenny Opera (Paperback)

Of all the translations on the market, this one is the best -- most are watered-down, tepid versions. Manheim & Willet's was used in the late 1970's revival of the piece by the New York Shakespeare Festival, which starred the late Raul Julia and Ellen Greene (of "Little Shop of Horrors" fame, in the role originally intended for Lotte Lenya).

5.0 out of 5 stars On The Threepenny Opera, February 9, 2009

By	BGP (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Threepenny Opera (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Bawdy, facetious, and unapologetically bleeding hearted, The Threepenny Opera is Bertolt Brecht's most playful and accessible critique of Western society.