I went into Pembroke College to see Sweeney Todd with low expectations. I was sure that a student production of Stephen Sondheim’s complex musical, the notoriously gory story of the demon barber of Fleet Street, was bound to be a fake-blood-splattered disaster. Never have I been so pleased to be so completely wrong.
The musical tells the story of Sweeney Todd, newly returned to London after 15 years in Australia, due to transportation on false charges. After he discovers that his wife poisoned herself after being raped by the judge who wrongly transported him, he vows revenge.
From the first scene it is clear that this is not going to be a shambling amateur production. It starts with just the piano, joined by the double bass, then solo singers build up until the full company is singing on stage, handling the intricate harmonies and rhythms with apparent ease. This powerful opening scene sets a high standard that the cast manage to maintain throughout.
In a stellar cast, extra special mention must go to the two leads. Both hold the audience’s sympathies, despite their dark deeds. Amanda Williams plays Mrs Lovett as a savvy business woman, just as immoral, and just as cunning, as the man she foolishly, and hopelessly, loves. Mrs Lovett’s song ‘Beside the Sea’, where she imagines the couple retiring by the seaside, presumably on the money they make from their human pies, is a definite highlight.
But star of the show, undeniably, is Liam Steward-George as Sweeney Todd. His presence on stage as the vengeance-obsessed barber is remarkable in its confidence and intensity. A very talented individual who I look forward to seeing in productions in the future.
Clever staging means that there are no awkward set changes, clever lighting means that there is no ridiculous gore (a trap too easy to fall into with this sort of play), and all in all this is the best student production that I have seen in Oxford by far. In fact, to call it a student production is to do it a disservice, as it could hold its own against the professionals easily. Catch this razor sharp show while you can!
Original review here
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