‘Threepenny’ fits the ages

What goes around comes around. Considering the spate of recent Brecht revivals in local theaters, the prevalent zeitgeist seems absolutely right for Brecht.

Now the Odyssey’s production of “The Threepenny Opera” joins the flood. Always a premier venue for Brecht works, the Odyssey has staged “Threepenny” twice during its 35-year history. Yet considering the rising tide of nationalism and social unrest in this country, the time seems particularly ripe for a third go-round. After all, Brecht and Kurt Weill’s landmark musical was first mounted during the heyday of Germany’s Weimar Republic, that corrupt and tumultuous interval between the World Wars that proved the perfect breeding ground for Hitler’s Reich.

Working from Marc Blitzstein’s crisp English adaptation, director Ron Sossi consciously draws that parallel in this spirited and sprawling staging that, although still set in the 1920s, seems vigorously updated.

The play’s protagonist is Macheath (Paul Dillon), a murderous thief who reigns supreme in his lower-depths milieu. Married to two women simultaneously, Macheath is ultimately undone by his own raging lechery -- but not before cogent points are made about the fragility of civilization in the face of rampant poverty and need.

Musical director Jan Powell keeps a tight rein on the atonalities of Weill’s score, while Travis Gale Lewis’ ramshackle set, Derrick McDaniel’s lighting and Gelareh Khalioun’s costumes are all integral to the richly sordid atmosphere.

Although Sossi occasionally oversteps, he laces his inventive cheekiness with an undercurrent of bitter outrage -- a potent mix indeed. Among the consistently capable cast, Robert Machray (doubling with Alan Blumenfeld) is superb as Mr. Peachum, the entrepreneurial beggars’ boss who orchestrates Macheath’s eventual downfall. But the production’s backbone is Dillon’s Macheath, a pallid, dead-eyed sociopath who somehow manages to remain perfectly engaging -- no mean feat.

*

‘The Threepenny Opera’

Where: Odyssey Theatre Ensemble, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles

When: 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays; 3 p.m. Sept. 4, 11 and 25, Oct. 12, 16 and 30; 7 p.m. this Sunday, Sept. 18, Oct. 9 and 23, and Nov. 6. No performances Oct. 26 and Nov. 2

Ends: Nov. 6

Price: $23 to $28

Contact: (310) 477-2055, www.odysseytheatre.com

Running time: 3 hours