AN OPERA originally set in the nineteenth century is being transformed within a futuristic setting.

The Threepenny Opera will see Mack the Knife and the show’s other songs performed live on stage by a nine-piece band from Kokoro – the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra’s contemporary music ensemble.

Students from Arts University Bournemouth have created their own costumes and set and will fuse comedy, dance and song as they look to give the popular opera a fresh makeover.

Ellie Nixon, director and senior lecturer in acting, said: “The collaboration with Kokoro is very exciting.

“Having the live music is a wonderful experience.

“It’s a very physical performance with singing and it’s an attempt to update the opera.”

The Threepenny Opera was written by Bertolt Brecht with music by Kurt Weill in 1928 and was originally set in London just before the time of Queen Victoria’s coronation.

This production follows the gangster Macheath as he marries Polly Peachum and her angry parents arrange for their new son-in-law to be arrested.

It was inspired by John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera from 1728, and was proclaimed to be a musical by beggars for beggars, bringing theatre to the people rather than the elite.

This version has an 18-strong cast of students and is set in a dystopian, futuristic criminal underworld.

Costume and set designers have worked to give the opera a new modern look, estimated at around the time that Prince William and Kate’s first child might be crowned.

Ellie added: “With a lot of dancing including tango it’s like a musical really.

“We’ve all come together in a collaboration to make this a spectacle.”

And Mark Forkgen, Kokoro’s conductor, has been impressed by the graduating students.

He said: “It’s great to work with this level of professionalism coming from an educational institution. They are ready to go into the profession.

“It’s such a physical production and we are on stage as part of the action so we are learning so much from each other.”

  • See the production at Lighthouse, Poole, next Friday (7.30pm) and Saturday (3pm and 7.30pm).