Act 1, Prologue and Scene 1 Summary

The Threepenny Opera, a play with music, tells the story of the street criminal Macheath and his involvement with Polly, the virtuous daughter of a fellow street criminal, Peachum. Betrayed by his own sexual desires and by the women with whom he indulges them, Macheath is sentenced to be executed, but he is saved from the hangman's noose by a sudden twist of fate. The play's musical interludes serve various purposes. They comment on the action, illuminate character and make socially conscious points relating to the play's theme of the struggle of the poor for justice and freedom.

Prologue - Against a background of lower-class street life in mid-18th century London, filled with beggars, thieves and prostitutes, a ballad singer sings about Macheath. The singer tells the audience how Macheath wears white kid gloves to avoid...