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Show: Sweeney Todd
Venue: New Theatre Royal Lincoln
Credits: Stephen Sondheim / Hugh Wheeler
Type: Sardines
Author: Janet Smith
Performance Date: 12/11/2022
Sweeney Todd
Janet Smith | 14 Nov 2022 02:39am
I confess that I thought Sweeney Todd was a real historical figure; was convinced I was told this growing up. But no, this terrible tale of love, loss, revenge, hairdressing and pies started life in a Penny Dreadful magazine, serialized over five months around 1846, and titled The String of Pearls: A Romance. Penny Dreadful stories were often written carelessly and contained themes of gore and violence which greatly appealed to the Victorian appetite.
Sweeney Todd, with lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Hugh Wheeler, is the society’s first since 2019, when they celebrated their 70th anniversary with Evita.
The Victorian theatre, with its auditorium of deep red flock wallpaper and rich red seating, is a perfect venue for this musical thriller. Pendant lights like ruby red drops of blood hang suspended above the stage. A faint London smog is wafting around the deceptively simple set, tawny coloured as if tinged by various dubious patinas. Stairs to the right lead to an empty upper floor, far left of which is a fretwork balcony.
The show opens with the eerie reedy sound of organ music, and a flickering of red lights. From a central doorway various grotesque silhouettes emerge in the dingy light, as day breaks in a squalid Fleet Street courtyard. A prologue, The Ballad of Sweeney Todd is sung, and our story begins.
For anyone who hasn’t seen the film version with Johnny Depp as Sweeney and Helena Bonham-Carter as Mrs Lovett, or indeed a stage version, the story is of a simple barber living in harmony with his beautiful and virtuous wife Lucy, until she is lusted after by Judge Turpin, and Sweeney unjustly sentenced to life transportation. Escaping with the help of Anthony, a seaman, it is only to hear that Lucy poisoned herself, and their daughter Johanna, an infant at the time, is in the wardship of the judge.
An embittered man, Todd seeks revenge, ably abetted by the ghoulish Mrs Lovett who makes the worse pies in London. Soon, though, by serendipity, and a dearth of cheap meat, her pies improve enormously!
From the moment Simon Nicholson as Sweeney Todd opens his mouth to sing A Barber and his Wife, and Imogen Phillis as Mrs Lovett sings The Worst Pies in London, I feel we’re in good hands, as two of the principal characters combine to make a match made in heaven, or hell as it turns out. Simon Nicholson, with a voice like dark treacle, plays the demon barber with just the right amount of dark menace, while Imogen Phillis makes a perfect quick-thinking Mrs Lovett; her lovely effortless voice squeezing the pips out of the lyrics.
Beggarwoman, played by Karen White, combines a wonderful contrast between heavenly warbling, and gutter talk; a poor creature fallen on hard times, not a little crazed by life’s hard knocks.
Evie Nicholson, who is Sweeney Todd’s daughter in real life, plays Johanna and sings beautifully. Her ‘Green Finch and Linnet Bird’ reflects her own caged existence. This part is played alternatively by Shanais Marks.
Anthony, the returned seaman and lovesick swain, is played by Billy Baxter. He makes a fine foil for Johanna, and his song Johanna and later Kiss Me, sung with Johanna are genuinely moving.
Judge Turpin is played excellently by Jordan Shiel. His Johanna, sung in a confliction of red-hot lust for his ward, and disgust for himself, is affecting.
Alan Trevor plays Beadle Bamford with fine pomposity. His affectedly high voice singing parlour songs on the harmonium is hilarious.
Pirelli the rival barber, played by Jonathan Oakeley, makes a wonderful character, with his preposterous Italian accent and prancing gait. His song The Contest is such fun; but Signor Pirelli isn’t quite who he claims.
Neither is Pirelli’s Miracle Elixir sung by his hapless salesman and assistant Tobias, alias Hugh Patten. When Pirelli ‘disappears’, Tobias is taken under the doubtful wing of Mrs Lovett. He plays his part of naive innocence to final disillusionment admirably.
Fogg, the corrupt owner of Fogg’s Asylum, plays his part with just the right amount of benevolence combined with malevolence.
The Ensemble are wonderful; acting and singing with skill and confidence, and fully inhabiting their characters; not letting their day selves slip for one moment.
The Musical Director David Williams and his team of skilled musicians work through the score seamlessly. Costume Designer Helen Symonds has designed a wonderful array of costumes sympathetic to the production, and the stage design, sound and lighting (oh the red-hot breath of the oven!) are faultless.
The dance routines are fun and fresh, and the blocking and choreography between characters exquisitely worked out. Scene changes are seamless and almost invisible. After the interval, the curtains rise revealing a tableau of Hogarthian type figures frozen in motion, so stunning that the audience gasps.
Director Lyndon Warnsby has made a brilliant job of coaxing the best possible performances from his cast; accents, body language and appropriate gait for the characters are admirable. It is scarcely believable that this is an amateur production.
The script, music and lyrics, must be a gift for any musical theatre company, with its strong storyline, vivid characters, tuneful songs, and the wittiest of wicked lyrics, but it takes real acting and singing talent, skilled musicians, together with set design, sound, lighting, costume design, and a talented director, to bring it off well. And the Country Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society bring it off in spades.
The show runs from 11 – 19 November, with two shows on Saturday 19. With themes of violence, it may be unsuitable for those below 12 years of age.