The Beggar’s Opera

A beggar is dumped into Newgate jail along with a pile of papers on which his unfinished opera is scribbled. He boasts to the other prisoners that his hero is a real person, the dashing highwayman Captain Macheath. Macheath, who is scheduled to be executed the next morning, quietly lends his voice to the beggar's performance as the tale begins.

Taking the first page of the opera, Macheath begins singing for the inmates. The beggar, enthralled by the performance, urges him to continue even as the other prisoners sense that the story is about a real man. The audience is drawn into the unfolding legend as the tale is set in motion.

The prison tale recounts Macheath riding to London feeling merry and free as he robs a carriage. He steals a kiss and a locket from a maiden, establishing his roguish charm. This escapade helps cement his notorious reputation before the plot moves back to the city.

Back in London, Polly Peachum pines for Macheath while her parents discover she secretly married him. The Peachums are scandalized by the union and see a business opportunity in his notoriety. They push Polly to lure Macheath into a trap to collect the reward.

Mr. Peachum and his wife, ever eager for profit, urge Polly to tempt Macheath into a trap. Their plan is to capture him and claim the reward that comes with his arrest. The scheme helps drive the clashes between wealth, crime, and marriage in the story.

Outside of town, Macheath meets Newgate's jailor Lockit, Lockit's daughter Lucy, and Mrs. Trapes, whom Lockit is courting. Lucy scolds him for breaking his promise to wed, while Mrs. Trapes proposes betrayal for financial gain. The tension between love and money runs through these meetings.

During a hayloft tryst, Polly warns Macheath of the impending ambush. He escapes with Polly's help after a swashbuckling fight and hides in a tavern back room. There, he fraternizes with the prostitutes, notably Jenny Diver, who has been bribed to betray him.

With the help of the bribed prostitutes, Macheath is soon captured and returned to prison. The web of deception closes in as his foes close the trap once more. The sense of inevitability hangs over his fate as the net tightens.

From his cell, Macheath urges Lucy to steal the jail keys and set him free, promising to marry her in return. Polly arrives and the two women are brought face to face, creating a tense confrontation between loyalty and desire. The promise of marriage hangs over their conflicting agendas.

Macheath disguises himself in a stolen lord's cape and gloves to slip into a gaming house and avoid keeping his word to Lucy. The proprietor recognizes the disguise and alerts Lockit and Peachum. The escape attempt moves from the jail to the public sphere as his enemies close in.

Back at Newgate, Polly is accused of freeing him and is locked in Lucy's room. Lucy tries to drug Polly to silence her, while the authorities hear rumors of Macheath's recapture. The two women compete for influence over the doomed highwayman.

The next morning, Macheath rides atop his coffin through the streets to the gallows. He kisses both Lucy and Polly goodbye and is blindfolded as the crowd gathers. The opera ends on an incomplete note, with his fate undecided yet looming over the crowd.

The real Macheath in the jail protests that he should not have to hang twice. The beggar calls for reprieve, and the prisoners rally to support him, mobbing the turnkey. Their cry buys time and shifts the momentum away from the gallows.

With the crowd's pressure, Macheath escapes the coffin cart and steals a horse from the cart containing his own coffin. He rides out of London and, free at last, sings that his freedom has been won by a beggar's opera. The frame story closes on his victorious exit.