Review: Sweeney Todd (CAODS) at the New Theatre Royal, Lincoln
I’ve seen several versions of Sweeney Todd at this point, including a memorable site-specific version set in a pie shop. It’s an enduring favourite and one I’m always happy to see again, with different directors and performers bringing something slightly different to each production.
Until last night, I hadn’t seen it in a few years, so the production by Lincoln’s County Amateur Operatic and Dramatic Society was a welcome opportunity to revisit it.
What’s it about?
Sweeney Todd returns to London after a long imprisonment in Australia, having escaped and been rescued at sea by young sailor Anthony Hope. He visits Mrs Lovett’s pie shop and enquires about the room upstairs. Lovett tells the story of its former tenant, Benjamin Barker, and how the villainous Judge Turpin had him convicted and transported on a trumped-up charge, raped his wife Lucy (who then poisoned herself) and adopted his daughter Johanna. Sweeney’s reaction reveals his true identity: he is Benjamin Barker, back to seek his revenge.
Sweeney sets up shop once more above Mrs Lovett’s, and sets in motion his plan to get revenge on Turpin and his right hand man, Beadle Bamford. Anthony, meanwhile, sees Johanna singing at her window and falls immediately in love.
After Sweeney commits his first murder, Mrs Lovett comes up with an idea that will allow them to both dispose of the bodies and give her struggling meat pie business a lift.
“What happened then? Well that’s the play, and he wouldn’t want us to give it away!”
Any content notes?
Sweeney Todd is a pretty violent show - multiple people are killed by having their throats slit with a razor blade and then baked into meat pies. Stagings vary dramatically in terms of how graphic they are. This production uses very little in the way of blood on stage and mostly relies on movement and the use of red light to symbolise each death. Severed body parts are shown briefly.
Some other things you might want to be aware of:
A woman is surrounded by laughing figures in masks and then grabbed by a man. It is heavily implied that he raped her.
A group of women are detained in a “lunatic asylum” and horribly mistreated. This scene is brief but upsetting.
A character is strangled on stage.
A young girl is almost forced into marriage by a much older parental figure, and then committed to an asylum.
A man takes off his shirt and whips his own back in a religious penance ritual
A gun is fired once in Act II.
The suggested age guidance for this show is 12+.
Sweeney Todd: My Review
In my opinion this show represents composer Stephen Sondheim at his absolute best. Soaring harmonies, dissonant chords, some extremely fast and wordy passages, and some ridiculously high notes, Sweeney Todd is not an easy musical to sing. So that makes it all the more impressive when an amateur group pull it off this well.
Though it’s undoubtedly dark, Sweeney Todd is a black comedy as least as much as it is a revenge tragedy, and it has to be just the right balance of funny and heartbreaking in order to work. CAODS’ production delivers both the comedy and the tragedy in spaces.
Simon Nicholson, playing Sweeney, has a fantastic singing voice, a deep and rich bass that does justice to this iconic role. His Sweeney is by turns sinister and affable, almost playful. Nicholson and Imogen Phillis, as Mrs Lovett, have delightful on-stage chemistry. Their “By The Sea”, a song I normally find quite forgettable, was hilarious, and “A Little Priest” is a reliable highlight when in the hands of two such skilled performers who were clearly having tremendous fun with it.
Simon Nicholson and Imohen Phillis in Sweeney Todd. Photo: Michael Caldwell/CAODS
Phillis’s Lovett is energetic and charming, with a wonderfully expressive face. I don’t want to say too much so as not to give away important plot details, but her stricken facial expression when Nicholson was singing “Epiphany” was incredibly powerful.
Evie Nicholson, as Johanna, has a simply gorgeous soprano voice. She hits the top notes with apparent ease and carries off Johanna’s babbling anxiety beautifully (“it was the gate! It’s the gate! We don’t have a gate!”) Anthony is played by Billy Baxter, and they make a moving pair as the young lovers, their light contrasting with Sweeney and Lovett’s darkness.
Jordan Shiel (remember him from The Producers?) and Alan Trevor make convincing villains as Judge Turpin and Beadle Bamford respectively. Shiel’s Turpin is so skin-crawlingly sinister, positioning himself as the height of morality despite raping Lucy and displaying entirely inappropriate lust towards his sixteen year old adoptive daughter, that we can’t help but feel that he sort of got what he deserved in the end.
Karen White plays the role of a Begger Woman who is rather more significant than she first appears, Jonathan Oakeley is entertainingly over the top as faux-Italian “Signor Pirelli”, and Hugh Patten is naively adorable as Toby.
The lead performers are supported throughout by a tight ensemble who provide both the “Greek chorus” style narration/commentary on the action and appear as background characters. With strong harmonies and tight choreography, plus Helen Symonds’ costume design, they bring the world of the show to life.
The band are excellent and the sound balance is overall good despite a few minor issues with microphones. The various chorus members have lovely voices and get to sing some of the show’s most memorable lines, but some of the words were unfortunately getting lost during solo lines.
To seek revenge may lead to hell, but this is a heavenly interpretation of a musical theatre classic. What else can I say but “god, that’s good!?”
Where to get tickets
Sweeney Todd runs at the New Theatre Royal, Lincoln until Saturday 19th November 2022. You can get tickets directly from the venue.