The Beggar's Opera opened in London in 1728. It's a musical - one of the earliest ever created. It was written by John Gay, a writer friend of both Alexander Pope and Jonathan Swift, two of the prominent literary figures of the day. The Opera was both popular and controversial. Popular, partly because it was an excellent skewering of Italian Opera, which was very popular at the time. However, instead of complicated Italian songs, the Beggar's Opera featured folk tunes that the audience could recognise, meaning you could hum along even if you didn't know Italian.