Perhaps the most poleaxing aspect of John Gay's 1728 satirical opera is how little things have changed in the nearly 300 years since it was first penned. Criminality and corruption are not only rife but have been normalised in every strata of British Society: the government, the Church, the police, the military - as well as just being par for the course for ordinary street and internet criminals. In fact, the hand-in-glove nature of those in power with their 'common' criminal counterparts is today all too obvious: oligarch donors, PPE contracts for mates, contracts, posts and Honours being given to 'useful' connections. So, the opportunity to update The Beggar's Opera to The Beggar's Rock Opera in 2023 has been an absolute gift. This contemporary rendering - co-written with Jack Hughes, music and lyrics by Pete Thorogood - has more or less written itself. What do I mean by that? Well...
The Beggar's Opera centres on a charismatic, misogynist conman by the name of Macheath, who runs a criminal outfit and a stable of girls. All the men want to be a 'real' man like Mackie, and all the girls find themselves trafficked into a world of sexual slavery. Remind you of anyone? Moreover, like many of today's women who went to the Police with tales of abuse and rape against a certain cigar smoking influencer and ex-kickboxer, the Police force in A Beggar's Opera are reluctant if not averse to bite the hand that feeds them. Mackie and the higher echelons of the police have an understanding based on mutual financial greed.
Today, the corruption within our police means a staggering six police forces are in special measures: including the London Metropolitan Police, the UK's largest police force. The others are Greater Manchester, Cleveland, Gloucestershire, Staffordshire and Wiltshire. Inspectors have raised "systemic concerns" about the Met, including its substandard response to emergency calls, "barely adequate" crime recording and a backlog of child abuse and other sexual assault referrals. It is estimated that across the UK only 1 in every 100 rapes results in charges being brought forward. Is this any wonder with cases such as that of Sarah Everard or the charges being brought against multiple current serving and retired officers for rape and assault:
The Metropolitan police have denied the force is plagued by a culture of misogyny
after an official report revealed shocking details of officers sharing messages about hitting and raping women, as well as the deaths of black babies and the Holocaust.
(Guardian Newspaper Met officers joked about raping women, police watchdog reveals | Metropolitan police | The Guardian)
But in John Gay's original satire, it is not only the Police who are savaged. In today's world, as in Gay's, MPs (Lords and Ladies) have shown themselves to be duplicitous, arrogant, fraudsters who have little respect for the people who actually voted them into power (see lockdown party revelations). Meanwhile, amid all the non-dom and tax scandals - never mind offshore investment banking revelations - parents are struggling to feed their children, nurses have become reliant on food banks and a generation of young people have been lost through the lack of financial support given to Mental Health Services.
Bertolt Brecht, Elizabeth Hauptmann and Kurt Weill recognised the keen relevancy of Gay's work when they created The Thre'penny Opera in 1928. Sadly, Britain in 2023 is not so different from Weimar in 1928: inflation, unemployment, corruption, the rise of the far right, the poverty of parenthood. Camming and sex phone lines have become a second income stream for many vulnerable mothers. Political grooming and radicalisation are being offered to young people as a cure for the lack of opportunity and lack of self-respect.
The parallels with today's world are horribly clear. As a writer, I interfered very little with Gay's script; just highlighted the twists of his knife. Perhaps most depressing is that in a post-truth and mediatized world, satire has become fact: Macheath is Andrew Tate; The Chief of Police is just another misogynist copper who preys on women, and the Cabinet is shown to be bunch of slippery, self-serving criminals.
The Beggar's Rock Opera (script by Mia Gordon and Jack Hughes; music by Pete Thorogood) premieres @The Courtyard Hereford 6th June 2023.
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