between Bertolt Brecht, Karl Valentine, and Max Aub

based on an idea by Ferdinando Ceriani
music by Kurt Weil

created by Ferdinando Ceriani and Alice Guidi

The Threepenny Opera in the Time of the Coronavirus stems from the work we were doing in our theater course, which included staging Bertolt Brecht’s Threepenny Opera at the end of May.

The global pandemic prevented us from going ahead with it, so, in agreement with the students in the course, we decided to transform our theatrical production into a multimedia experiment set in the labyrinth of a grotesque, underground London. Here, the representatives of a mysterious, mad, and unpredictable world have taken refuge. Criminals, prostitutes, twisted mothers, lovers on the verge of a nervous breakdown, mad doctors, brokers, bloodthirsty hairdressers, astrologers, and magicians are all holed up in their hideouts, fleeing a hurricane (or an epidemic) that is closing in on them. They use the web to tell and sing their stories.

By interweaving the main scenes from Brecht’s work with fragments from other authors of the era—especially Karl Valentine and Max Aub—we ’ve created a series of micro-scenes, some hilarious, some unsettling, that will make up our impossible show. Each story will have its own title and can be viewed individually or in sequence with the others. Starting in late May, we'll begin posting three scenes a week on this page. Like a large puzzle, we'll gradually assemble this unique portrait of the vices and virtues of our contemporary society. 

It’s often said that a crisis always presents an opportunity. With The Threepenny Opera in the Time of the Coronavirus, we want to seize this opportunity to show—first and foremost to ourselves—that we can continue to pursue our passions (in this case, theater) even during a challenging time like the one we’re experiencing.

Walt Disney said, “If you can dream it, you can do it!” And we want to keep dreaming!

Ferdinando Ceriani

Episodes are available online weekly starting May 28, 2020.
 

First episode available Thursday, May 28, 2020 

• Scene 1 - Prologue to the Threepenny Opera in the time of the coronavirus
• Scene 2 - Peachum and Mrs. Peachum argue 
• Scene 3 - At the Cuttlefish Inn 

Second episode, starting Thursday, June 4, 2020 

• Scene 4 - The strangest stories unfold in the depths of the city 
• Scene 5 - Love in the time of… the coronavirus! 
• Scene 6 - Polly tells her parents she wants to marry Mackie Messer 

Third episode from Thursday, June 11, 2020 

• Scene 7 - Exemplary crimes in the heart of the city 
• Scene 8 - Polly tells Mackie Messer she's in danger 
• Scene 9 - The prostitutes of the Albergo della Seppia 

Episode four, starting Thursday, June 18, 2020 

• Scene 10 - Mackie Messer, betrayed by the prostitutes, is arrested by Brown La Tigre 
• Scene 11 - If the end of the world is just around the corner… 
• Scene 12 - Mackie Messer, in prison, receives a visit from Lucy and Polly 

Final episode from Thursday, June 25, 2020 

• Scene 13 - Brown the Tiger, having helped Mackie Messer escape 
• Scene 14 - Polly visits Lucy in Old Bailey prison 
• Scene 15 - How the city of London was saved from the hurricane 
• Scene 16 - The unpredictable ending to this wild quarantine tale 

Students | Leading actors

Algisa Misasi / Andrea Ciambellini / Andrea Gallese / Andrea Vianello / Angelo Naborre / Beatrice De Mare / Beatrice Ruocco / Carlotta Maggi / Chiara Carbone / Claudia Bernardi / Diletta Cardinali Pietracci / Donato Di Risio / Edoardo Costanzo / Edoardo Monteforte / Elena Neri / Elvira Poerio / Enrico Contini / Federica Liberti / Federica Natella / Federico Grieci / Francesca Ciurlia / Francesco Poli / Gerardo Amoroso / Giordana Agosta / Giorgia Laudicina / Giorgia Verna / Giulia Ferretti / Leonardo De Marco / Margherita Belgioco / Margherita Venier / Maria Giulia Sardone / Mariarosaria Rita Rizzo / Maria Teresa Modarelli / Matilde Marvasi / Miriam A. Risi / Miriana Pino / Rebecca Pantani / Roberto Vigorita / Salvatore Di Donna / Valeria Camelio / Valerio Rinaldi

attivitaculturali@luiss.it
06.85225.651