Mario Vega directs the production, which unfolds on Sunday (February 1) in the Symphony Hall.
Madrid singer Coque Malla stars, alongside a cast of seven other actors, in Mario Vega’s production of La ópera de los tres centavos (The Threepenny Opera) at the Auditorio de Tenerife’s Symphony Hall on 1 February.
Originally set for the stage box alone, the production has boosted its capacity so every seat in the venue is now on offer. The production is a collaboration between Auditorio de Tenerife, Teatro Pérez Galdós, unahoramenos Producciones, and Barco Pirata Producciones Teatrales.
Composed as a prologue and three acts, featuring music by Kurt Weill and a libretto by Bertolt Brecht (with Elisabeth Hauptmann’s collaboration), the play debuted amid the upheaval of the late 1920s, mounting a brutal and pitiless attack on capitalism.
Director Mario Vega also handles the set design, under the musical direction of Miguel Malla. He leads the septet performing live the libretto of this thrilling production, whose plot unfolds in the filthy abattoir amid the grim London of the interwar years.
Coque Malla, former lead of Los Ronaldos (1987–1998), takes the starring role of Mack the Knife, the archetypal thug and panderer, in a cast that also features Omar Calicchio, Andrea Guasch, Paula Iwasaki, Carmen Barrantes, Cristina García, Miquel Mars, Pablo Novoa, and Néstor Ballesteros.
This staging turns the scenery into a realm where morality is as easily discarded as the meat processed at Peachum’s abattoir. In this harsh environment, the boundary between business and crime is blurred, highlighting Brecht’s critique of capitalist exploitation, as Mario Vega notes.
He has embraced Brecht’s technique of alienation (Verfremdungseffekt) by forgoing the illusion of theatre and encouraging the audience to reflect on the irony and brutality depicted in the play. The director thus reveals the workings of the stage mid-performance, dismantling the idea of the fourth wall: the actors change their costumes—designed by Elda Noriega—and transition between scenes in view of the audience. Props and other elements are reused both functionally and symbolically to serve the dramatic gambit.
Humour underpins this scenic production, and the company will perform in cities including Bilbao, Murcia, Villena, Elche, A Coruña, Vitoria, Málaga, Valladolid, and El Prat de Llobregat, arriving in Madrid towards the year’s end.
Abandoning a grave reading, the dramaturgy plunges into irony, sarcasm, and black humour. Through exaggeration and parody, it exposes the hypocrisy of the characters and the system that governs them.
Another standout feature of this production is the music. Miguel Malla, creator of many film, theatre, and TV scores, handles the arrangements of Kurt Weill’s original libretto score. Having orchestrated Coque Malla’s recent albums—with symphonic tracks for Ruido on the Sabina homage Ni tan joven ni tan viejo, plus horn sections for Vetusta Morla’s film score El amor de Andrea—he crafts the onstage songs in a cheeky, defiant style true to Weill’s intent.
He transforms the onstage orchestra into an integral part of the narrative, interacting with performers and chiming in during crucial scenes to amplify Brechtian alienation. The score accompanies, annotates, and challenges the proceedings. The ensemble features Gabriel Marijuan (trumpet and percussion), Daniel Rouleau (alto saxophone, clarinet and flute), Evgeni Riechkalov (trumpet), Roberto Bazán (trombone and double bass), Miguel Malla (tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinet), Néstor Ballesteros (keyboards), Pablo Novoa (guitars and banjo), and Carmen Barrantes (cello).
The score toys with opposites: lilting tunes clash with sardonic words, clashing harmonies create unease, and sharp interruptions heighten alienation. Vocals avoid operatic polish, opting for a rougher, more visceral delivery reminiscent of 1920s Berlin cabaret.
The tickets are available on the website www.auditoriodetenerife.com, at the auditorium’s box office or by dialling the phone number 902 317 327 from Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Check the special discounts for the audience under 30 years of age, students, unemployed people, and large families.