Whitton Choral Presents a concert performance of:

The Beggars Opera

Love, betrayal, and surprisingly catchy tunes!

The Beggar's Opera, a ballad opera in three acts by John Gay, was first performed at Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, London, in 1728 and published in the same year. It combines comedy and political satire in prose interspersed with songs set to popular English, Irish, Scottish, and French tunes of the time - the "Top of the Pops" of the 18th century!

In it, Gay portrays the lives of a group of thieves and prostitutes in 18th-century London. The action centres on Peachum, a fence for stolen goods; Polly, his daughter; and Macheath, a highwayman. Gay caricatures the government, fashionable society, marriage, and Italian operatic style. Particularly evident are parallels made between the moral degeneracy of the opera's protagonists and contemporary highborn society - does anything ever change?!

Tickets £15 (including light refreshments)

Box office: 07939 129293 / [email protected]

The Hall, Whitton Baptist Church, Hounslow Road, TW2 7BZ