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 was quite popular at the time due to featuring contemporary folk tunes rather than opera's usual Italian songs. The play is set in Newgate Prison, with its main characters being criminals who act like the British nobility and deliver veiled criticisms of Prime Minister Robert Walpole, 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]
History[edit | edit source]
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 the attending British Assassin Miko. Haytham made his way to the Assassin's box seat through the backstage while the actors were oblivious to his movements. He climbed up the Assassin's booth, killed him, and subsequently fled with his amulet. Once the murder was discovered, the opera house was promptly evacuated.[3]
Appearances[edit | edit source]
- Assassin's Creed III (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Forsaken