“A collaboration between Marie Hamilton and Sharp Teeth Theatre, Polly (The Heartbreak Opera) brings a gritty and wild energy to John Gay’s scandalous follow up to The Beggar’s Opera, with original music inspired by Peaches, Britney and Nina Simone.
This fierce adaptation renews Polly, Gay’s near forgotten gender-bending, anti-colonialist and proto-feminist ballad opera, originally written in 1729 but banned for the outrage it sparked.”
Hamilton, who also plays Macheath, Lucy, and other characters, tells us more!
Where: Pleasance, London
When: 8-11 May
Ticket link: https://www.pleasance.co.uk/event/polly-heartbreak-opera
A riotous, radical adaptation of the banned sequel to The Beggar’s Opera! Tell me more about the show!
It’s a dark and wild and very funny night out! We’ve taken a long-forgotten 18th Century rom-com and ripped it apart, sticking in lots of laughs, techno and tracksuits and glittery palm trees.
In a tacky beach resort on a storm hit island we meet jilted brides, drag king politicians, a pregnant murderess, and a pirate boyband called Blazin’ Squid.
It’s a fierce and very funny not- quite-musical, a with songs inspired by Peaches, Britney and Nina Simone.
The Pleasance is such a powerful place for cabaret. What’s the best thing about being programmed there?
It feels like a bit of a homecoming, we performed an extract of the show at the LET awards in 2019 and it was an absolute blast. The audience were so on board and we had a brilliant time.
The show was made in Berlin and hugely inspired by Brecht and Weill who made The Threepenny Opera out of it’s prequel- The Beggar’s Opera.
That Berlin cabaret aesthetic is what the show is born from, but with a wild 21st century twist the Pleasance is the perfect venue for it.
This is a joyous celebration of Polly and the other wives of the world of Mack the Knife, with songs inspired by pop classics. It sounds a riot. Why do these women still grab our attention?
They’re flawed and funny and mean and incredibly human, with hopes and dreams and fears and faults.
They were written in the 18th century but we all know these women, there are flashes of our sisters, our crazy aunt, the old lady shouting obscenities at the bus stop.
These are women who have been drawn in by Macheath and made to dance along to his tune, finally enacting revenge.
Feminist, funny, and fierce are all words which have been applied to your show. What three words would you choose?
Empowering, dark, hilarious
If people can’t catch the show in May, what’s the future for Polly?
Hopefully, another tour in 2025, as long as the Arts Council throws us a bone, but it’s a precarious time – so who knows! Get booking for this tour now!
Image credit: Sharp Teeth Theatre