Sweeney Todd

Sweeney Todd music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim is a dark and macabre story of a ruthless and corrupt Judge Turpin who wanted Benjamin Barker’s wife Lucy, for himself and unjustly exiles him to be imprisoned in Australia. Barker returning after many years and now calling himself Sweeney Todd applies his razor to unlucky customers to dispatch them directly to Mrs Lovett’s pie shop.  Sweeney however will not be satisfied until he slits Turpin’s throat.

This was a well-executed production with plenty of detail, well done to Benjamin Connor (Director) and his whole team. This show has layered storylines that interconnect with each other and I found the production clear to understand through out. In addition I particularly liked this productions attention to the detail everything from members of the ensemble stealing hair elixir from Pirelli’s stall to the wig of Judge Turpin.

The technical side of this production was done well and gave proper elevation to the performance with well-designed stage lighting by Bryonie Wilkes, which created great atmosphere and emphasised the emotions being portrayed by the performers. It particularly held my attention, which previous productions of this show had not. The large and impressive set was moved easily by the cast and crew however in Act two it did obscure the sightline of the audience sitting lower down the raked seating in front of me, restricting their view of the oven of the pie shop.

Make up by Caroline Howells added to the overall effect required for this macabre piece of theatre. Wigs and hair on the whole were good and had been well maintained under the watchful eye of Natalie Watts.

Music and sound were clear with a focus on good diction from a majority of the cast. I particularly liked the sound effects on entering the auditorium that created a sense of anticipation and set the atmosphere for the production.

Richard Aaron, Musical Director and his Assistant Musical Directors (Izzy Cullis and Daisy Wyatt) had ensured that the difficult harmonies and vocals were delivered well.

There are so many great songs in this show but I particularly enjoyed ‘A little Priest’, ‘Johanna’ and ‘Epiphany’.

Joe Fisher as Sweeney Todd gave a morose and brooding performance, his internal struggles and the instability of his character were well delivered. In contrast Mrs Lovett played by Natalie Wright gave us plenty of amusing moments as the wholly amoral landlady. Her timing for both comedy and in her songs was spot on along with her amazing facial expressions. These two performers worked well together and there was great interaction as they immersed themselves into their roles.

Anthony played by Joe Childs gave us the perfect performance worthy of any West End Stage; he made his whole performance look effortless. Anthony’s love interest Johanna played by Stacey Buckley gave us the full gamut of emotions along with some lovely singing.

There were some lovely cameos by Dan Wrench (Judge Turpin), George Sawbridge (Tobias), Rich Kee (Beadle Bamford), Robyn Marsh (Beggar Woman) and Matty Romasiuk (Pirelli).

The audience reaction to this production really summed up that this had been an evening of creative theatre that had been well executed by the whole team.

 

© NODA CIO. All rights reserved.