A filthy and acerbic new translation of Bertolt Brecht's classic play risks being let down by the very perfection of its staging, writes Rosie Fiore. Bertolt Brecht was the most political of playwrights. For him the greatest danger was the tendency of audiences to fall into a kind of emotional stupor, responding empathetically to the characters on stage instead of assessing the story intellectually.This filthy and acerbic new translation of Brecht's The Threepenny Opera is by Simon Stephens, directed by Rufus Norris, head of London's National Theatre.It has all the ingredients to be spectacularly good.David Shrubsole makes Kurt Weil's score grind and whine, just as it should.The set is an ingenious construction of raw wood and brown paper, the staging is innovative, the pace brisk and sharp, the cast formidable.But the production's greatest strengths are also its failings. It does everything it should, almost too well.story_article_left1Brecht wanted the audience to be aware at all times that they are in a theatre.His actors should distance themselves from the action by commenting on what they are doing, ignoring the theatrical conventions of the "fourth wall" and speaking directly to the audience.The mechanics of the theatre should be laid bare: the set should be basic, scene changes should be visible and the lighting rig should be exposed. The National production does all of this, too perfectly. "Oh yes," the well-heeled Notting Hill audience seemed to purr."How well they are demonstrating the alienation effect! It's textbook!"In the words of Dolly Parton, "It costs a lot of money to look this cheap", and I couldn't help feeling that this production was playing at being political. For the most part, no one is shocked, no one is rattled and no one is made angry or afraid.There was just one note of raw danger for me, when Macheath (Mac the Knife) slurs and lurches to mock his henchman Matthias, played by Jamie Beddard, an actor who genuinely has cerebral palsy.But I longed for it to have more rawness, more real dirt, more actual chaos and unpredictability.Perhaps I'm being churlish. This is The Threepenny Opera, a great work, brilliantly staged, and starring Rory Kinnear, for heaven's sake.On screen best known as James Bond's colleague Bill Tanner, theatre legend Kinnear (pictured with Debbie Kurup and the company) gives a lacerating performance as Mac, and perhaps watching the NT Live cinema version in South Africa will give a sharper edge to his knife.Rating: 3/5CATCH THIS PLAY ON THE BIG SCREEN IN SAThe Threepenny Opera will be screening at Cinema Nouveau in Joburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town on October 29, November 2 & 3 at 7.30pm and October 30 at 2.30pm. For more information visit cinemanouveau.co.za...