Sweeney Todd the Barber

Described as “A Melodrama”, this adaptation of the 19th Century penny dreadful “The String of Pearls” by Brian J Burton, draws on all the features of a period melodrama including musical interludes of folk style ballads and amusing songs. Over the four acts, the familiar story of Sweeney Todd (John Eaves) dispatching his customer to fill Mrs Lovett’s (Katrina Stead) pies unravels, as Sweeny becomes haunted by the Mariner Mark Ingestre (Andrew Dent), and his actions are foiled by his apprentice Tobias (Charlotte Knowles) who joins forces with Mrs L’s newest recruit, Jarvis (Kim Turford). Convincing characterisation came from Stuart Wells as Dr Aminadab Lupin and Anna Dunstan as Johanna Oakley, both of whom coped with their musical numbers well. However, melodrama is a difficult genre to pitch and can often fall between two stools. Whilst clearly a great deal of effort had gone into the set building and painting, particularly the barber’s chair, and the costumes were in keeping with period, first night jitters were unfortunately evident. Nerves hampered a number of the cast and the style of music proved difficult for some of the players. This, coupled with a few technical hitches on stage, meant the performance did not match the standard which this Society has attained with recent productions. An ambitious choice presumably selected to utilise a large cast, which, on this occasion, may not have suited the strengths of this Society.

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