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There was murder and mayhem in buckets at the Liverpool Empire when Welsh National Opera brought Stephen Sondheim’s black comedy, Sweeney Todd, to the Liverpool Empire stage.
The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and his accomplice, pie shop owner Mrs Margery Lovett, do away with anyone who stands in their way in the goriest manner. Punters come in for a close shave and end up in her pies! This is an absorbing and exhilarating musical thriller with top notch singing and acting from the whole company, beautifully directed by James Brining.
The set, with gothic undertones, first depicting an asylum and then dreary dock containers that cleverly morph into rooms, evoke an atmosphere of doom. Clever lighting layers the suspense-laden mood.
It is set at the end of the 1970s early 1980s – Thatcher’s Britain – when those at the top prospered and those at the bottom scavenged what life they could. It emphasises Sondheim’s message that it’s not just Sweeney who is insane. Through its corruption and inequality, society is totally mad.
The story, first published in a penny dreadful in 1846, has seen many incarnations and was first premiered by Stephen Sondheim on Broadway in 1979.
Sondheim’s Sweeney is not an easy production with unusual tonality in the score but the company is superbly led by the beautifully modulated orchestra under the baton of James Holmes.
David Arnsperger is a wonderful demon barber, with a bald head and menacing look.
As the lyrics say, his skin was pale and his eye was odd. However, he does have an air of gentility about him which is counterpointed by his ally Mrs Lovatt (Janis Kelly), the cheery woman with an east London accent who just loves to shove Sweeney’s clients into her huge oven. Kelly is excellent and her comic timing terrific.
Local lad Paul Charles Clarke from Kirkby, who plays Pirelli, Sweeney’s rival barber, is brilliant as the Italian-accented challenger, but then switches into a wonderful broad scouse accent when alone!
Soraya Mafi, Sweeney’s daughter, Johanna, who has been taken under the wing of the paedophilic Judge Turpin (Steven Page), debuting with WNO, impresses with her wonderful soprano voice.
But then all the cast is good and one is treated to a full-on musical experience where scenes slip seamlessly into the next and the audience’s attention is rapt for the whole three hours.
If the singing is magnificent then so is the acting. The soloists and chorus give a wonderful performance that results in a show that satisfies, but makes you want to keep the light on when you go home!
Purple Revolver Rating: ***** a gory extravaganza
Welsh National Opera co-production with Wales Millennium Centre and West Yorkshire Playhouse.
Book by Hugh Wheeler
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Conductor: James Holmes
Director: James Brining
Designer: Colin Richmond
Choreographer: Anna Morrissey
Lighting Director: Chris Davey/Ian Jones