The Beggar's Opera

Beggar's Opera, The (Gay/Pepusch). Words (lib.) by John Gay, music arranged by John Christopher Pepusch; 3 acts; first performance London 1728.

Polly Peachum's mother, Mrs Peachum, discovers that Polly and the high-wayman Macheath have been secretly married. Because her father wants to have him hanged, Polly tells Macheath to leave and hide. In a tavern he meets two young ladies who take his guns. Peachum and his men arrive and arrest him. He is confined in Newgate Prison where the gaoler's daughter, Lucy Lockit, is an old conquest he seduced and deserted. He now agrees to marry her. Polly arrives in search of her husband and she and Lucy quarrel. Lucy helps Macheath escape but he is recaptured and returned to Newgate. Peachum and Lockit escort him to the Old Bailey where he is confined in the condemned cell. He is reprieved and reunited with Polly.