Robert Carsen’s new updating of The Beggar’s Opera is a coke-snorting, trash-talking, breakdancing, palm-greasing, skirt-hiking, rule-breaking affair — and every bit as wearyingly tedious as that sounds.
Leaving behind the work’s original 18th-century setting, Carsen sets out boldly for present-day London (where the streets are paved with Brexit-related comedy gold), but in Ian Burton’s rewrite seems to land somewhere circa 1990.
Already a subscriber? Log in
Easter flash sale:
10 issues for $1
Subscribe this Easter and get the next 10 issues of the magazine, plus website and app access, all for just $1.
- Weekly delivery of the magazine
- Unlimited access to spectator.com.au and app
- Spectator Australia podcasts and newsletters
- Full access to spectator.co.uk
Or
Unlock 3 articles a month
You might disagree with half of it, but you’ll enjoy reading all of it. Try your first month for free, then just $2 a week for the remainder of your first year.
Comments
Easter flash sale: 10 issues for $1
Join the conversation with other Spectator Australia readers. Subscribe to leave a comment.
CLAIM OFFER 10 issues for $1Already a subscriber? Log in