November 1, 2008
Oxford Brookes Drama Society delivers a performance as sharp as one of Mr Todd’s silver razors during this two and a half hour blood-curdling spectacle in the Old Fire Station black box studio.
Returning to London, Sweeney befriends sailor Anthony Hope and tells how Judge Turpin exiled him to covet his wife. Whilst Sweeney is determined to revenge this wrong, the character grows deliciously out of control under Charlie Parker’s excellent interpretation of this 19th Century melodrama. The play is well cast with Gavin Moore excelling at the light and shade required by character Tobias Ragg, pitching a cure for baldness that is chicken excrement and spittle then later breaking down as a prisoner in Mrs Lovett’s unorthodox ovens.
The drama grows in tension as Mrs Lovett softly and subtly woos her throat-cutting barber beau by desperately bloody means. This is accentuated by the sincere, naïve emotions displayed by Jo Stromanis as Anthony Hope who falls for the beautiful daughter of Sweeney Todd, Johanna. Whether Johanna can escape the grip of her adopted father, Judge Turpin, is one of several cliff-hanger moments offered by this well crafted script. The fast moving plot is played using a split level stage managed by Millie Packer and a wider technical team who keep the drama alive with an ingenious trap door working in tandem with split second black outs.
After watching the show that creatively utilises the full potential of the studio space the small table of pies near the exit seem strangely alluring.
Returning to London, Sweeney befriends sailor Anthony Hope and tells how Judge Turpin exiled him to covet his wife. Whilst Sweeney is determined to revenge this wrong, the character grows deliciously out of control under Charlie Parker’s excellent interpretation of this 19th Century melodrama. The play is well cast with Gavin Moore excelling at the light and shade required by character Tobias Ragg, pitching a cure for baldness that is chicken excrement and spittle then later breaking down as a prisoner in Mrs Lovett’s unorthodox ovens.
The drama grows in tension as Mrs Lovett softly and subtly woos her throat-cutting barber beau by desperately bloody means. This is accentuated by the sincere, naïve emotions displayed by Jo Stromanis as Anthony Hope who falls for the beautiful daughter of Sweeney Todd, Johanna. Whether Johanna can escape the grip of her adopted father, Judge Turpin, is one of several cliff-hanger moments offered by this well crafted script. The fast moving plot is played using a split level stage managed by Millie Packer and a wider technical team who keep the drama alive with an ingenious trap door working in tandem with split second black outs.
After watching the show that creatively utilises the full potential of the studio space the small table of pies near the exit seem strangely alluring.