CHUGADDHAM SYM-PHONEY is an adaptation of THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY (Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny), written by the legendary team of librettist-dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill. The original, famous as a political-satirical opera, had its world premiere in Leipzig in 1930. It was understood to be an analogy for repression by the Nazi government, leading it to be banned in Germany, and not produced again for another twenty years. It has, over the years, played in opera houses around the world.
Mahagonny blends Brecht's trademark ‘epic’ theatrical techniques -- emotional distancing, political didacticism and angry social satire to create a modernist realism offset by a tremendous score that includes flashes of classical forms, post-Romantic irony and cabaret. Although written in the late 1920's, and very much of its time politically, the universality of its satirical themes can resonate easily in today`s society, time, and culture, while the underlying insights into human behaviour still ring true.
As the story begins, two criminals and a prostitute on the run decide to create a city where no one works, one which will become a mecca for lust, liberty, and the pursuit of pleasure. Welcome then, to Mahagonny, where sin is "in", love is always on sale, and anything goes. Cash is king, poverty is punishable by death, and anything worth doing is worth overdoing. The four pleasures of the carte blanche regime are lovemaking, drinking, gambling and fighting.The implications for a society organized on such a value system is the overarching theme, which explores scenarios of greed, gluttony, lust, and a justice system in which a murderer can buy his way to freedom, but inability to pay a bill, results in conviction and a death sentence. Mahagonny is a vision - as much a dreamscape as a cynical moral parable, of capitalistic, hedonic greed where sin flourishes, money is all, and poverty is a crime.
The play employs Indian English, Hindi and a little Gujrati. The play has been translated by Vivek Mishra, alumnus, National School of Drama - a renowned writer, a well-known translator, actor and theatre director. This translation of Mahagonny was originally done for a production directed by Robin Das, also a very well-known theatre designer and director.
Although the version of the play uses a translation of the libretto, the musical score is modified from the original by Kurt Weill, to make the performance accessible, and place it in context. However considerable time and effort has been spent to retain the use of a wide range of forms, both classical and contemporary to highlight and balance the libretto in the original spirit. The songs have been composed directly from improvisations and inputs during rehearsals and readings over a period of 6 months. The score uses a fusion of contemporary rock, and songs sung in melody and chorus to indigenous sounds and the like.
CHUGADDHAM SYM-PHONEY is an adaptation of THE RISE AND FALL OF THE CITY OF MAHAGONNY (Aufstieg und Fall der Stadt Mahagonny), written by the legendary team of librettist-dramatist Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill. The original, famous as a political-satirical opera, had its world premiere in Leipzig in 1930. It was understood to be an analogy for repression by the Nazi government, leading it to be banned in Germany, and not produced again for another twenty years. It has, over the years, played in opera houses around the world. 
