The Threepenny Opera | Adelaide Festival 2024

Barrie Kosky returns to Adelaide Festival with a masterpiece of 20th century music theatre – The Threepenny Opera.

Written by Bertolt Brecht and Elisabeth Hauptmann with music by Kurt Weill, The Threepenny Opera was an overnight sensation following its premiere in Berlin in 1928. Here, the Berliner Ensemble is joined by former Adelaide Festival Artistic Director Barrie Kosky in a new production that demonstrates the piece’s timeless power.

Set amongst the poverty, crime and corruption of London, The Threepenny Opera follows notorious criminal Macheath, a.k.a. Mack the Knife, his gang, enemies and lovers. It is both a biting satire of capitalism and a farcical story about love, betrayal and morality.