Director Vidnyánszky Attila had known Sear Bliss' music for a couple of years. He thought that the band's dark and painful music would be the perfect score for a play and, naturally, we were quite willing to accept the challenge. So the plan for a "Black Metal Opera" was born in 2000.

Our choice fell upon "Beggars' Opera", a play that is far from being a happy piece. After lots of negotiations and discussion, the rehearsals began at the Culture Centre of Gyõrvár (Hungary, Vas county). Both the town and the nearby villages were a big help in helping this production come true. It took about a month for the play to take its final shape, however, that shape did not prove to be its last, since it has kept changing since the premiere. In fact, the play is maturing with every performance, striving to become the best version possible.

At first, we felt weird in the theatrical medium and the company of the Illyés Gyula National Theatre (from Beregszász, Ukraine) felt the same way about our music. However, the daily rehearsals, which often lasted for fourteen hours, soon smoothed the initial difficulties and brought actors and musicians together. Slowly, we were learning the theatrical terms and the actors no longer gave us stares when we mentioned "riff" or "grind". The most difficult task was assigning the appropriate songs to the individual scenes. It was not uncommon to find Attila in a corner brooding with headphones and a notepad at 4 AM. And he did come up with some surprising ideas! For instance, I really liked it when actress Nelli Szûcs first sang to "Left in the Dark", but I must admit that the idea sounded weird beforehand. The next challenge was composing the music that would accompany the vocals created by Attila. We would have liked to stay within the musical limits of Sear Bliss, but that was not possible in all the scenes. Therefore, there are songs, especially in Act Two, which would not fit on a Sear Bliss album but which can only support the plot this way.

There were lots of occasions to practise musical modesty and teamwork, since we had to play our instruments real quietly - constantly paying attention to the actors - so that the prose parts remain audible. The challenge was greatest for Sömi, as the drum isn't really a quiet instrument - especially not when it comes to faster parts -, but he managed to solve the problem.

The long weeks spent working hard had passed and it was time for the premiere at Vasvár (Hungary, Vas county). Although we thought that we had rehearsed every scene, it suddenly dawned on us that we forgot about the final one. Apparently, when the actors were practising this scene, we had a gig somewhere. What's more, due to the lack of time, not once could go we go through the play from beginning to end. So the premiere held surprises for us as well.

The theatre was sold out for the unusual performance and I cannot say that we were calm at the outset. As we were approaching the final scene, we looked more and more frequently into our notes in the half-light of the stage, trying to find the cues, when we had to begin and which song. Fortunately, the play went down without any major problems and even the final scene was a success.

It was a tremendous pleasure to work together with a theatre company and to take a little trip in the theatrical world. We became friends with the actors and enjoy every performance up to this day.

Finally, let us thank everyone who has helped with the Threepenny Opera.