A motley crowd from 18th Century London's underworld has been cast into Newgate Gaol where they await transportation to slavery in the West Indies. The Governor condescends to allow these deprived and disadvantaged members of society to spend their last night in England performing a play-with-songs devised by one of their number, in which they satirize the attitudes and behaviour of their social superiors and suppressors.

The plot of the beggar's 'opera' revolves around the character of the amorous highwayman, 'Captain' Macheath. He is, apparently, married to Polly Peachum, daughter of Mr Peachum, the double-dealing 'fence', who also gains by informing on any of the gang who step out of line. Peachum and his 'wife' are outraged, for social and professional reasons, to hear of Polly's marriage, and plot against the Captain. Polly overhearing their scheming warns Macheath.

The scene moves from Peachum's Lock to a nearby tavern where we meet Macheath's gang, and, later, the ladies of the town' - many of whom have known the Captain intimately. Unwittingly, the Captain allows himself to be disarmed by Sukey Tawdry and the aloof Jenny Diver and is easily apprehended by Peachum. The faithless females scrabble for the reward as the first half ends . . .

The second part opens in Newgate Gaol itself, where Lockit the gaoler greets his new guest.

In prison, Macheath is at the mercy of Lucy, the gaoler's daughter - one of his abandoned ladies'! She berates him as the father of her expected child! As she is his only hope of escape, Macheath exerts all his charm to win her sympathy and has all but succeeded when Polly appears in search of her 'husband'. Eventually, Lucy is won over by Macheath's plausible tongue and connives at his escape.

Meanwhile, Peachum and Lockit discuss their nefarious dealings. Their mutual distrust flares into open hostility but their ultimate dependence on each other brings them to an uneasy reconciliation. Mrs Diana Trapes' revelation of Captain Macheath's whereabouts - in the arms of Mrs Coaxer - leads to his recapture. He is returned to Newgate in time to thwart Lucy's attempt to poison Polly.

After a session in the condemned cell, Macheath is led to the scaffold . . - As the drums begin to roll, the Governor intervenes - Macheath cannot be executed! An opera must end happily!

But surely such an ending would not suit the moral of the beggar's tale?

John Gay, a minor poet of the early 18th Century, little knew what he was starting when he put together his play-with-songs in 1728. It was intended partly as a burlesque of popular Italian opera; partly as a satire on current - or indeed, universal -attitudes in society. Originally presented at the Lincoln's Inn Fields Theatre, London by the manager, John Rich, its ensuing success was said to have 'made Gay rich; and Rich gay'.

The 'opera's' tone is essentially cynical; it satirizes the ruling classes - the politician, the courtier, the lawyer. Authority figures are implicitly motivated by self-interest. Deceit, treachery, double-dealing and faithlessness are not the monopoly of the criminal classes - possibly there is more honour among thieves than their "betters"? Sexual relations are to be exploited, marriage is depicted as a means to an end, and love as a self-deluding fraud. Only Polly Peachum has any illusions, and these are drawn from the play-books she reads!

No original music was composed for the play. The lyrics, written by Gay and his literary friends to fit existing tunes (either traditional or currently popular - from Anon. to Handel!) were intended to be sung unaccompanied. However, at the last moment, a basic arrangement for a small band was provided by Dr Pepusch, musical director of the theatre.

The 'persons of the drama' are given names appropriate to their character - 'Macheath', not because of any Caledonian connections, but in allusion to Hounslow Heath, a favourite haunt of gentlemen of the road; 'Peachum', because he 'impeaches', or 'informs on' his associates: 'Filch' the pick-pocket, and 'Lockit' the gaoler are obvious aptronyms, as are the names of many of the gang and of the ladies of the town.

The subversive tone of The Beggar's Opera led to the banning of its sequal Polly by Sir Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister, who was incensed by the popular assumption - justified by his alleged corrupt political practices - that Peachum was intended as a parody of himself. In 1928 the social comment with which the play is imbued appealed sufficiently to the Marxist playwright Bertholdt Brecht for him to use it as the basis for his Threepenny Opera. Despite its potentially serious satirical tone, the essential vulgar vigour and good humour of the play started a trend for 'ballad opera' which lasted throughout the 18th Century and kept the play itself on the stage well into the 19th. Its popularity declined during the Victorian era only to be revived in the 1920's by Playfair and Austin. That production imparted an inappropriately decorative and genteel image to the work; emphasising the pretty costumes and romance at the expense of the realism and satire. Since the 1940's there have been attempts by serious composers to turn the piece into a 'real' opera, with heavy orchestration so that the action, instead of being carried along by the songs, is submerged.

The present production attempts to strike a balance, dramatically and musically.