PENNIES FOR THREEPENNY! SUPPORT EMERGING ARTISTS!

PENNIES FOR THREEPENNY! SUPPORT EMERGING ARTISTS

Hello and Welcome to our GoFundMe Page for Unbridled Theatre Collective’s production of Brecht/Weill/Hauptmann’s The Threepenny Opera at VideoCabaret in Toronto, May 8-17, 2025!

In 1928, German Playwright Bertolt Brecht asked the question “how does a man survive in this damnation?” and given the state of the world, the same question could be asked today.

Our answer: By making innovative & inspiring theatre, of course! And that is exactly what the Unbridled Theatre Collective intends to do this spring with our upcoming production of The Threepenny Opera! This bold, gritty, and satirical play with music has something for everyone! But we need your help to get it on its feet and bring The Threepenny Opera to Toronto for the first time in many years!

We are an ambitious collective of emerging theatre artists who mostly met through the Sheridan/UTM Theatre and Drama Studies Program. It was during our time there that we had the incredible opportunity to work with seasoned director, Anita La Selva, and talks of a production of Brecht/Weill/Hauptman’s The Threepenny Opera began. We have now come together as a group of passionate and dedicated individuals with the common goal of creating inventive, political, and exciting theatre! In collaboration with Anita La Selva and the Unbridled Theatre Collective, we are ecstatic to be independently producing this exceptional piece, but doing a show of this magnitude at a professional caliber requires fundraising! BIG TIME! So we need your support to help us bring our dream prodcution to life!!

WHY Threepenny?

The Threepenny Opera, based on John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera, is a “play with music” written by Bertolt Brecht and Elisabeth Hauptmann, with music by Kurt Weill. Brecht’s alienation effect in combination with Weill’s various musical tools, provides its audience with a confrontational depiction of corrupt capitalist class systems and hypocritical bourgeois morality. Through Mack the Knife’s gritty narrative, the raw underbelly of society is revealed and the visceral intricacies of human survival in an unjust world are dug up from its core.

As emerging artists, we feel it is our duty to sustain the theatre community by contributing to its conversation surrounding socio-political issues. The play asks its audience to address their own hypocrisies before judging the actions of others, and to challenge the systems in place before naively succumbing to their influence. As we all continue to live through a turbulent and unpredictable political and theatrical climate, this play could not be more relevant. And we could not be more passionate about bringing it to the Toronto theatre scene!

WHAT are we fundraising for?

The rights for the show

Because this is a play with music, we are not only paying for the licensing to use Bertolt Brecht and Elisabeth Hauptmann’s writing (plus Simon Stephen’s modern adaptation!), but also for Kurt Weill’s captivating musical score. A piece with this kind of social stature and multifaceted dimensions is expensive, but with these rights we are able to legally put our artistic spin on this classic work of art.

The theatre rental

Toronto’s VideoCabaret Theatre, an inventive and versatile venue, has graciously opened its doors to us and we couldn’t be more thrilled to bring this show there! VideoCabaret is a renowned Toronto Company that was established in 1976 and is known for producing multimedia and musical work. Renting the theatre for two weeks (including load in, tech, shows, and load out) is one of our bigger expenses, but we cannot wait to use this spectacular space to transport audiences into the underworld of The Savoy Hotel, Peachum’s Emporium, 21 Grape Lane and more!

Set materials

Our hardworking team of designers have so generously offered their time and artistry towards this project, and part of our donations will go to pay for the costs of the materials spent in the creation of these important set, ligitng and costume details.

***We are all working as a cooperative, and are not taking any form of salary for this production. All donations will go directly to cover production costs!

So DONATE! DONATE! DONATE! No contribution is too small! Every penny is appreciated! After all, “only those with cash are truly free”! (Bertolt Brecht)

“There is nothing like watching young actors go all out in making theatrical art… I so wish all theatre could be like this.”

– Holger Syme, theatre scholar and professor.

The Cast

Liam Armstrong as Mr. JJ Peachum

Madison Buchanan as Polly Peachum

Aria De Castro as Mrs. Peachum

Steven Feng as Matthias

Cameron Helmkay as Jenny

Jasmine Jenkinson as Ruby/Lucy Brown

Jacob Klick as Macheath

Kaden Klodt as Jimmy

Sean Lee as Robert

Nicole Lynch as Walter

Rhys Parker as Balladeer/Pastor Kimble/Vixen

Joelle Salsa as Officer Smith

Zoe Saum as Filch/Betty

Maggie Tavares as Tiger Brown

The Crew

Directed by Anita La Selva

Music Directed by Justin Hiscox

Stage Managed by Ivan Stanic

Assistant Stage Managed by Mads Carrick

The Designers

Set Design by Leslie Wright

Costume Design by Michelle Vanderheyden

Lighting Design by Mike Slater

Sound Design by Joseph Taylor

Set Construction by Sarah Scroggie

Show Dates:

Thursday, May 8th 2025 @ 7:30pm (☆OPENING NIGHT☆)

Friday, May 9th 2025 @ 7:30pm

Saturday, May 10th 2025 @ 2:00pm & 7:30pm

Sunday, May 11th 2025 @ 2:00pm

Tuesday, May 13th 2025 @ 7:30pm

Wednesday, May 14th 2025 @ 7:30pm

Thursday, May 15th 2025 @ 7:30pm

Friday, May 16th 2025 @ 7:30pm

Saturday, May 17th 2025 @ 7:30pm (☆CLOSING NIGHT☆)

Location:

VideoCabaret Theatre

10 Busy Street

Toronto, ON M4M 1N8

CANADA

Ticket Link: __________________

Social Media (instagram): @unbridledtheatrecollective