Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street

Set in mid-1840s London, Sweeney Todd sees young sailor, Anthony Hope (Jake Bradbury) and the eponymous anti-hero, played by Will Long, dock in London.  They are accosted by a Beggar Woman (Mari Watson), offering an impressive line in sexual favours, who seems to remember Todd momentarily but he brushes her off.  He gives Anthony hints of a troubled earlier life, when he was a barber, transported to Australia by a corrupt Judge..  And so begins a tale, set to sombre music, of love, lust, revenge and murder.
 
Hexham Amateur Stage Society can be relied upon to present an impressive musical production but, on this occasion, created something on a grander scale.  Sweeney Todd is a dark musical thriller, a challenge for any amateur society.  The score is complex, intentionally plumbing the depths of gloom and horror in the story.  The principals, chorus and orchestra must stay on their toes to pull it off.  In the hands of a lesser company, that is not an easy task.  Hexham, however, have been able to rely upon their players to present an absorbing version of this now familiar tale of tragedy and death.  Director Jude Long is to be commended for the way she has molded her large company into a compelling ensemble.

A two level set works well, giving the stage a deep and broad fullness, suiting the gory goings on and providing an effective chute for delivery of bodies from barber shop above to the bakery below.  As the narrative continues we learn that Anthony recently rescued Todd at sea.  Later he encounters Todd's daughter, Johanna, with whom he falls in love.

Will Long is a Sweeney Todd who brings a solid reality to the role of a man tortured by fifteen years of transportation for a crime he did not commit.  His character is aided in exacting his revenge by Mrs Lovett (Ellen Armstrong) who runs the pie shop below the premises which become his barber’s shop.  She explains she could do with some decent meat for her pies but adds to his misery by telling him his wife, Lucy, was raped by Judge Turpin (Neil Richardson) and accomplice Beadle Bamford (Jeremy Freeman-Wood) before poisoning herself.  Mrs Lovett has held a candle for Todd ptior to his transportation and is able to return to him the means of his revenge, his cut-throat shaving kit.  Ellen Armstrong is something of a force of nature in the part of changeable Mrs Lovett, as she longs for better times away from the big, wicked city.  And so the tale continues to its inevitable, gory conclusion

The chorus perform as “The Chorus” throughout, linking the action, telling and foretelling the tale musically.  Whilst the principals are all very well cast, this is, to all intents and purposes, an ensemble piece where everyone on stage adds to the whole.  However, the lingering memory I came away with was the mesmerising performance of Ellen Armstrong as Mrs Lovett.

Before closing, I should mention the excellent contribution of Musical Director Robert Laws and his 11 piece orchestra who performed that very moody musical score with the all pervading aura of the evil intended by its creator.

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