Here’s my one requisite opera of the year. I could have picked more of a classic, and that probably would have made more sense. The Beggar’s Opera was mentioned at the beginning of Assassin’s Creed 3, when the player (as Haytham) does their first assassination. You have to climb all over a big fancy theater and go right above the stage to get to your target. I’m doing a yet-to-be-announced project related to that game, and it sounded fun to actually watch the show.
The Beggar’s Opera is a satirical opera first performed in 1728. Apparently, satirical operas like this were popular at the time, but this is the only example we have of one. The lyrics were written by John Gay, but the music was all already familiar to the audience from other operas, ballads, folk songs, hymns, etc. The story mostly features two women who are apparently both married to the same man (a highwayman!), that man, and the women’s lawyer fathers.
I enjoyed it. I had to have the script open and follow along there to understand what all was happening, but it was funny in a way that I sometimes forget people back then could be. I was a little bit surprised by how often one of the women is called a slut (12, apparently). I didn’t know they had that word in 1728! Apparently the first recorded use was from Chaucer, but it meant something a little different then. In this opera, slut is used right along side hussy (18) and wench (25), so. That happened.
Mostly, I felt like I was learning something about different ways storytelling can happen as I watched it, so it was a good experience for that. My brain is going to be stuck in 18th century language patterns for a few hours, though.
Next: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!
Daisy M. Hall 
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