Mr Peachum Peter Grant Mrs Peachum Alenka Ponjavic Filch Joshua Ellicot Polly Peachum Jenny Carlstedt Captain Macheath Howard Kirk Lockit Hakan Vramsmo Lucy Lockit Sally Matthews Jenny Diver Lise Christiansen Mrs Trapes Shirley Keane Conductor Jason Lai Director Martin Lloyd-Evans Guildhall School of Music and Drama When in doubt, do the Beggar's Opera. Since Nigel Playfair's endless revivals betweent the wars, Gay's satire (like the Mikado and Sweeney Todd) has lost its bite and become the epitome of familiar coziness. Guildhall's production is the fourth (at least) in London this year, and is interesting mainly for using Britten's arrangement. But Britten treated the airs in more or less the same way as he did the folk songs and Purcell's songs, and the result is still dramatically complacent, going on intractable, though musically enjoyable. Still, this performance had some good singing and a hell-fire tinged Hogarthian look and feel, and made a fair evening's entertainment. It began predictably, with the cast dressed as street people invading the auditorium to interrupt the overture of The marriage of Figaro. Alenka Ponjavic, from former Yugoslavia, the incipient Mrs Peachum, was dressed in the same way as the Balkan women who beg with small children in London, which introduced a genuinely uncomfortable note, though she was quickly introduced as the author of the opera and the missus of the Scottish Peter Grant, soon to become Peachum. The rest of the production had a few contemporary touches -- Peachum's list of criminals was updated, Mrs Peachum was a cross between Patsy and Lily Savage, some of the cast wore eighteenth-century costumes over modern clothes -- but was basically traditional, if painterly. A fixed set with balconies on either side made the chorus into an on-stage audience much of the time, as required by Britten's settings. This was also useful as members of the chorus could laugh at the jokes in case the audience didn't and occasionally say things to liven up the boring bits. This tended to highlight a general lack of danger and humour. The musical performances, however, were pretty good. Jenny Carlstedt as Polly and Sally Matthews as Lucy were nicely contrasted -- sweet and Laura Ashley versus strident and punk -- and both quite good enough to be battling divas. Alenka Ponjavic has the makings of a big-league old fashioned mezzo and is has an amusingly mannered theatricality. Shirley Keane was rather wholesome as Mrs Trapes (a sort of un-downtrodden Mrs Doyle), but quite funny. Peter Grant as Peachum sang splendidly. He is potentially another serious bass-baritone like Peter Rose and Bryn Terfel. He also had an edge of violence that most of other crimial types lacked. Howard Kirk was a hamster of a Macheath, and vocally a bit bland, though pretty. Hakan Vrasmso as Lockit looked great -- tall and cadaverous -- but he seemed to be struggling with the English text, and this might have got in the way of his singing, which was haywire. The highwaypeople and ladies were jolly and hysterical respectively. Jason Lai and the orchestra brought out some of the sleaziness of Britten's music where appropriate, but somehow it was all a bit too neat and tidy. - H.E. Elsom he@helsom.demon.co.uk http://www.helsom.demon.co.uk/