Sweeney Todd - The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

What an extremely atmospheric opening!  We were immediately transported to a very sinister part of Victorian London where wicked things were bound to happen.

The tale of Sweeny Todd is well known and was well told by the cast, although I have to say that not all the dialogue was easy to hear from some characters.  Fine when facing the audience but the problem occurred in conversation when the necessity is to virtually face one another and projection is something that is learnt over time.  Don’t forget that there may be members of the audience who are hard of hearing and I may be one of them!

However, all the ingredients were there for a good evening’s entertainment of a gory kind with excellent work done with the barber’s chair and all the effects all the way through.

Mark Davidson (also co-director) excelled as Sweeney Todd – a character who was out to seek revenge and certainly got it, which also proved the end of him. His set of razors certainly looked lethal! Wendy Stubbs was an ideal Mrs Lovett, very busy with her meat pies and extremely happy with the continuous supply of fresh meat!

Some fine performances from the rest of the cast who ensured that the story ran seamlessly from beginning to end with many heart stopping moments.

Everyone was dressed appropriately thanks to your wardrobe team and the set design was very good indeed with excellent work carried out by the stage crew during the changes.  The programme design was great, with a lot of red (quite naturally!) being used.

Good work from all involved – lighting, sound, props and publicity (and that includes the catering team – the meat pies provided during the interval were delicious!).

Congratulations to your Directors, Becks Heard and Mark Davidson.  Thank you for an evening of fine melodrama.                                                                           

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