The Beggar's OperaBy: John Gay The tale of Peachum, thief taker and informer, conspiring to send the dashing and promiscuous highwayman Macheath to the gallows, became the theatrical sensation of the eighteenth century. In THE BEGGAR'S OPERA, John Gay turned conventions of Italian opera riotously upside down, instead using traditional popular ballads and street tunes, while also indulging in political satire at the expense of the Prime Minister, Sir Robert Walpole.