"In this production, opera director Robert Carsen blends the passion, vitriol, and cheeky appeal of Gay's original - here set to new dialogue by Ian Burton - with William Christie's version of the score, and some West End-style singing and dancing ... Yet I mourn the lack of John Gay in this 'Beggar's Opera' ... Burton's dialogue, by contrast, devoles into farce, with cocaine-taking and the f-word his substitute for Gay's searing wit ... even as this production's performers enrich its delights".