Another amazing production at the National, they made this Brechtian piece thoroughly enjoyable. Set in a sort of Oliver Twist's London, the lead male - Mack the Knife - uses the eponymous weapon to exert control over his world. Things go wrong when he has an affair with and marries Polly Peachum, the daughter of Jonathan Peachum. He is master of a gang of beggars that he controls. They pay him a 'franchise' to operate in his territory. Peachum wants Jack dead and engineers to have him arrested and hung. Even the Chief of Police, Tiger Brown, with whom Mack shared a background in the army, is unable to shelter him. Mack decides to flee but not before visiting a brothel, staffed by amongst others, Jenny an ex girlfriend. She has been bribed by Mrs Peachum to betray him and he is arrested. Tiger Brown cannot help because Peachum threatens to disrupt Queen Victoria's coronation visit by unleashing a flood of uncontrolled beggars to make mayhem. Just to complicate matters further Tiger's daughter Lucy turns out to be another of Mack's conquests. Mack is sentenced to hang. However, all take a miraculously positive turn when he is granted not only a Royal pardon but also a knighthood, castle and pension.
Mack is played by Rory Kinnear but, to my mind the star of .he show was Rosalie Craig, singing Polly's role. She just seemed to stand slightly apart but, in fairness, the whole ensemble including the musicians were great.
It is, of course, an easy to follow story and I suppose one that can be enjoyed on different levels. It makes its social comments and has a dig at corruption. It also confronts us with Mack's amorality as well as the duplicitous nature of some of the characters (e.g., Mrs Peachum, Jenny). It is also fascinating to see this example of how Brecht comes to life in a good production.
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