Damiano Michieletto's 'Threepenny Opera' at Piccolo Teatro Milano

Damiano Michieletto directs a new production of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's 'The Threepenny Opera' at Teatro Strehler in Milan, running until June 11. The staging features the Orchestra Verdi di Milano conducted by Giuseppe Grazioli. The production is framed as a flashback, with Macheath's execution opening the show. Set designer Paolo Fantin creates a stark courtroom scene with a net as the sole backdrop. Marco Foschi plays Mackie Messer but lacks the required grit, while Peppe Servillo delivers a more genuine Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum. Maria Roveran as Polly is criticized for weak vocal performance and lack of charisma. Rossy De Palma, as Jenny delle spelonche, brings color in a blue electric costume by Carla Teti. The production references Giorgio Strehler's historic 1956 and 1973 stagings at the same theater. Michieletto's direction is deemed timid, with creative elements like a sky of lifebuoys and a cloud of banknotes failing to sustain the intended aggression.