The Beggar's Opera
94 mins
Unlike any other opera, the so-called Beggar's Opera is not just one composition, but a lineage of adapted compositions, beginning with the original hugely successful 1728 political satire written by Englishman John Gay. Composers and writers have penned variations on it ever since. The most famous of these was A Threepenny Opera by Bertholt Brecht and Kurt Weill. Some things these compositions share in common is their setting among the poor and criminal classes, and the roguish character Macheath. This production is based on an adaptation of Gay's original by Vaclav Havel the freedom-fighter, writer and philosopher who became the first (and only) president of the united post-communist country of Czechoslovakia, and it retains many traces of its theatrical origins. Film reviewers were not too tolerant of what they called "slavish adherence" to the noted Czech writer's stage production, but theater, philosophy and history buffs may feel otherwise.
Barbora Leichnerová
Polly
Kateřina Frýbová
Diana
Jan Klusák
Original Music Composer
Jaromír Šofr
Director of Photography
Jan Šuster
Executive Producer
Eva Kadaňková
First Assistant Director
Monika Maratová
Second Assistant Director
Annika Eisel-Šonka
Second Assistant Director
Eric Chaikin
Second Assistant Director
Zuzana Přibíková
Script Supervisor
John Gay
Theatre Play
Richard Valenta
Camera Operator
Tomáš Hruška
Camera Operator
Antonín Mařík
Assistant Camera
Karel Havelka
Camera Technician
Zbyněk Hloch
Production Design
Milan Býček
Assistant Production Design
Zuzana Máchová
Lead Costumer
Věra Linhartová
Costumer
Irena Seidlová
Costumer
Bedřich Čermák
Property Master
Jaroslav Lehman
Props
Rudolf Beneš
Props
Miloslav Dvořák
Props
Tomáš Kuchta
Makeup & Hair
Aleš Kocián
Makeup & Hair
Tereza Kolihová
Makeup & Hair
Petr Blažek
Makeup & Hair
Eva Horázná
Assistant Editor
Jiří Hora
Sound
Mstislav Pilný
Sound Assistant
Jan Šuster
Production Manager
Jan Hadrbolec
Unit Production Manager
Jan Peterka
Production Accountant
Roman Molnár
Assistant Production Manager
Pavel Štěrba
Assistant Production Manager
Eva Blažková
Clapper Loader
Soňa Nemcová
Clapper Loader
Jiří Půlpán
Gaffer
Miloslav Mirvald
Still Photographer
Štěpán Koníček
Conductor
Jiří Zobač
Music Director