Threepenny Opera Review
Wednesday 15th February 2006
As the curtain came down on Friday night's standing room only performance - the fourth and final performance of Alton College's vibrant production of Bertold Brecht and Kurt Weill's Threepenny Opera, Mac the Knife - the notorious villain of the piece, was once again pardoned. However, as Mr Peachum goes on to comment "Happy endings only really happen on stage, and people are saved from poverty only rarely", and as if to give us a grasp on reality - before we left the theatre and return to the world, Mrs Peachum goes on to inform us that "None of the poor receive royal pardons, you can see for yourselves as you strole through Covent Garden".
Pictured above: Mac's Gang.
This thought provoking production had everything: a huge scaffolding set with excellent lighting, fantastic singing - worthy of special mention must be Lauren Mackrell (Polly), Dave Morecroft (Mac), Georgina Ower (Lucy Brown), Sarah Davies (Mrs Peachum), Luke Adam (Mr Peachum) and Phoebe Gardiner (Jenny), great acting and arresting set pieces - particularly effective were the slow motion escape of Mac, achieved with strobe lighting, and at the end of the show and the end of the first half, where the whole company came onto the stage to intimidate the audience with their singing. The band provided excellent support throughout, although worthy of special note must be pianist Pamela Edwards - often accompanying the soloists without the band in this very difficult score.
Pictured above: Pheobe Gardiner as Jenny.
At the end of the show, director Lorne Magory commented:
"In this production we had a cast of 30 students, a band of 10 students and a technical crew of 5 students, with all costume and set design also created by a student. It has been a lifetime experience for all concerned, and was a great privilege to work with everyone involved."
Pictured above: The whole cast take to the stage at the finale of the first half.
"It's great to see challenging material on a college stage and the students obviously enjoying every minute of taking part."
David Kinder - Head of the English and Media Faculty