National Theatre Live, the company that has brought over 40 theatre productions to cinemas across the world, has announced its latest release. The Threepenny Opera, originally by Bertolt Brecht, Elisabeth Hauptmann and Kurt Weill, will hit cinema screens on 22 September.
The new version of the play is adapted by The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’s Simon Stephens and directed by the newly appointed director of the National Theatre, Rufus Norris. The stage production, which opened in May and runs until 1 October, has been critically acclaimed, with many four and five-star reviews.
Set against the backdrop of a coronation, it tells the story of Mr and Mrs Peachum, a conniving couple who hatch a plan to kill their daughter’s new husband, Macheath (the original ‘Mack the Knife’). The show features many well-known faces of stage and screen, with Spectre and The Imitation Game star Rory Kinnear as notorious criminal Macheath, National Theatre Live stalwart Rosalie Craig as his wife Polly Peachum, and veteran stage actress Haydn Gwynne as her mother, Mrs Peachum.
The crew features award-winning lighting designer Paule Constable and celebrated stage composer David Shrubsole. The show will be broadcast in cinemas 22nd September at 7pm, with a full list of venues yet to be confirmed.