Greed as the keynote: Robert Carsen on the timelessness of 'The Beggar's Opera'
The director brings his contemporary take on John Gay's satire to the Edinburgh FestivalIn the time of composer John Gay, greed and self-interest were the main motives for life; and his work The Beggar's Opera is an open critique on the way that society behaved. The work's opening number sets the tone, basically saying: "we all abuse each other, we all steal from each other, we all want to get as much as we can …