Barrie Kosky returns to the Adelaide Festival with his dazzling Berliner Ensemble production of The Threepenny Opera. Written by Bertolt Brecht and Elisabeth Hauptmann, with music by Kurt Weill, the satirical play with music premiered in Berlin in 1928. Set among London’s lowlife, it follows notorious criminal Macheath (aka Mack the Knife). As ever, Kosky brings his own distinctive, vibrant take to the show, which comes to Adelaide after hit seasons in Berlin and at the Edinburgh International Festival. The Adelaide Festival theatre program also includes Qui a tué mon père (Who killed my father), performed by writer and philosopher Édouard Louis and directed by Thomas Ostermeier (8–10 March); Milo Rau’s Antigone in the Amazon, created with Brazilian and European actors, musicians and Indigenous activists (15–17 March); and Thomas Weatherall’s Blue (until 16 March).

Limelight Editor’s Choice

Barrie Kosky returns to Adelaide Festival with a masterpiece of 20th century music theatre – The Threepenny Opera.

Written by Bertolt Brecht and Elisabeth Hauptmann with music by Kurt Weill, The Threepenny Opera was an overnight sensation following its premiere in Berlin in 1928. Here, the Berliner Ensemble is joined by former Adelaide Festival Artistic Director Barrie Kosky in a new production that demonstrates the piece’s timeless power.