Yale Bulletin and Calendar

October 26, 2007|Volume 36, Number 8

Rarely staged sequel to ‘Beggar’s Opera’ to be brought to life in ‘concert reading’

It is not only the words but also the music of a rarely produced classic that will come to life when the Department of English presents its annual staged reading on Friday, Nov. 2.

This year, the Department of English will join forces with other Yale groups to present “Polly,” John Gay’s little-known sequel to his “Beggar’s Opera.” The “concert reading” will be presented at 4 p.m. in the auditorium of the Whitney Humanities Center, 53 Wall St. The event, part of the series “Music at the Whitney,” is free and open to the public. The reading is expected to last about 90 minutes without intermission; a reception will follow.

Joining with the Department of English this year will be members of the Department of Music, the Yale Schools of Music and Drama, the Theater Studies Program and the Yale Divinity School.

Written in 1728, “The Beggar’s Opera” is a “ballad opera,” in which a dramatic text is interspersed with short “airs” or songs set to popular tunes. “Polly” follows four of the principals from “The Beggar’s Opera” (the highwayman Macheath; his wife, Polly Peachum; and two ladies of doubtful reputation, Jenny Diver and Mrs. Di Trapes) to a relatively safe haven in the West Indies. There, variously unsavory English adventurers engage with one another and with the native population. Although successfully published in 1729, “Polly” was banned from performance for political reasons, and not staged for another 50 years. There appear to have been only two modern productions, both in England, and one of those on radio.

Like its predecessor, “Polly” is a ballad opera recycling popular traditional and contemporary music. Most of the Yale readers will also sing a selection of the original airs. The participating faculty and staff members will include Marie Borroff, Toni Dorfman, Daniel Larlham, Gordon Turnbull and Elliot Visconsi. The show will also feature graduate students Amy Boratko, Christopher Grobe, Lynda Paul and Rachel Watson; and undergraduates Jay Frisby, Trevor Kempner, Flora Mendoza and Claudia Rosenthal. The music is supervised by faculty members Richard Lalli and Judith Malafronte, and the reading is directed by Murray Biggs.

The choice of “Polly” was prompted by the current exhibit of Caribbean work at the Yale Center for British Art, notes Biggs. The performance is also featured in Professor Joseph Roach’s DeVane Lectures on “World Performance.”

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