Awash on the briny a convict ship bound for New South Wales sees miscreants re-enact John Gay's famous 18th century The Beggar's Opera, then set in the criminal underworld of London now renamed The Convicts Opera, with some modern twists.
The original has been cleverly re-imagined by Stephen Jeffery where we are presented with a play within a play, which at times can be confusing if one doesn't pay careful attention!
This production has a good pedigree in director Max Stafford-Clark with the accomplished Out of Joint company, working in conjunction with the Sydney Theatre Company.
However, the ensemble piece is a delight with many bawdy lines, cross dressing, subtle homosexual references and lovers' duplicity. It also features modern-day tunes such as "I fought the law and the law won", "I will walk a thousand miles" and "She's so fine to name but three", bringing hoots of laughter from the audience.
However, this is a just homage to Gay's original where he also used tunes of the day and changed the words to fit the satire that was seen as a direct attack against corruption in the government
All the well-known characters are there, Captain MacHeath/Henry Morton, ably played by Juan Jackson, a delightfully sexy Polly Peachum (Ali McGregor), and the trollop Lucy Lockit (Amelia Cormack). Mr Peachum/Ben Barnwell (Brian Protheroe) is played with apt skulduggery and Mrs Peacham is depicted by Catherine Russell with wonderfully honed acting as the funny and smart Bett Rock.
This is a bawdy romp to the magnificent backdrop of convicts horded together in a tight space depicted on a relief screen. The 'actors' in the opera do magnificently on a small sloped 'stage' trying to pass the time during the long passage. All sing and dance and the music is supplied by violin, drums and accordion, played by the actors.
Stafford Clark has brought together a team actors and singers from Australia and UK where the logistics must have been a minefield. However, what he has cast is a mix of talented people who debuted in Sydney before touring UK and ending their run this week at the Playhouse on March 14.
Rating: 7.5/10
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