SWEENEY TODD - THE DEMON BARBER OF FLEET STREET
Kate Hiser as the baker with the worst pies in London
In a cut-throat world, Sweeney Todd brings a sinister meaning to the term, ‘a close shave’. The murderous and revengeful barber is the antihero of Stephen Sondheim’s beefy musical-cum-operetta. It’s a very difficult gig to pull off what with tricky syncopations, devilish ensembles and often a torrent of brilliantly conceived inner rhymes and spikey melodies. It is a particularly tough call for an amateur theatre company .. The monstrous doings of the Victorian serial killer lend an epic scale to the musical melodrama. It calls for a large cast and first-rate soloists. Luckily, most elements were in place for a wonderful production at the Theatre Royal Bury.
The Irving Stage Company’s Sweeney was blessed with a pair of great leading actors. Mark Kerr was outstanding as the demon barber of Fleet Street. Fine of voice and eyes burning with the painful injustice (his character was transported on trumped up charges to Botany Bay). Kerr brought a kind of outraged dignity to the role. Not easy when the barber is seen polishing off customers with a steel razor which he calls (and sings as) ‘My Friend’. Kate Hiser was in top form as the pie-selling Mrs Lovett who despite her aria, ‘The Worst Pies in London’ comes up with a plan to vastly improve the meat content of her savoury pastries. Suffice to say her plan is as unsavoury as it gets. Hiser really inhabited the part – great singing voice and deep characterisation of a bakery monster. Sondheim and his book writer Hugh Wheeler give the Cockney cannibal something of a heart – when the killing is over she longs to settle down by the seaside with retiree slayer Todd. But it’s not deckchairs he has in mind but vengeful slaughter. Katie Woodhouse was sweet of voice and manner as Joanna, Todd’s left-behind daughter and Laura Gilbert was outstandingly bizarre as the mad beggar woman with a secret to reveal.
The play is almost sung through with ear-worming (Greek style) choruses and some very pretty tunes not least a charming ditty sung by the boy apprentice (played by Harvey Gould) who tells Mrs L that he will protect her: ‘Nothing’s Going to Harm You While I’m Around’. Sadly, for him, the while around doesn’t last long as the boy soon joins the lengthening queue of stiffs. Yes, this melodrama (Victorian in origin) is not for the faint hearted or those who are planning a haircut and shave.
Direction by Sian Couture kept the play bubbling along despite a few awkward scene changes. The band led by Philip Shaw were note perfect from the first sinister Sweeney motto theme.
The barber-chair-of-despatch was comically done with a cutaway in the set so you could see the ‘bodies’ slide from salon to who knows where. Tensorial perdition perhaps.
I haven’t seen a production by the company before but given the quality of music theatre displayed I will certainly be along next year. They are certainly a cut above!
Kate Hister (Mrs Lovett), Matt Kerr (Sweeney Todd) and Harvey Gould (Tobias)
