The Beggar's Opera
The Beggar's Opera is a ballad opera written by John Gay in 1728, the same year it debuted in London. It was one of earliest musicals ever created and it was quite popular at the time due to featuring contemporary folk tunes rather than the usual Italian songs. The play is set in Newgate Prison, with its main characters being criminals who act like the British nobility, with Gay having included veiled criticism of the head of government which caused controversies surrounding the musical. The Beggar's Opera was accused of being a "base form of entertainment" and of causing an increase of crime.[1]
Edward Kenway attended a performance of the musical with both of his children, Jennifer Scott and Haytham Kenway,[2] though in his adulthood, Haytham would remark that he did not remember much of it.[3] On 18 April 1754,[4] Haytham and Reginald Birch attended a performance in the Theatre Royal in London, with the purpose of obtaining an artifact from an attending Assassin. Haytham made his way to the Assassin through the backstage while the actor were oblivious to his movements before climbing up the Assassin's booth, assassinating him and fleeing the opera house.[3]