What a treat on Fleet Street. 'Sweeney Todd' hits The
Carriageworks Theatre, Leeds, running until the 30th of April and it
didn’t disappoint. This ensemble piece provided a fresh and efficient take on a
Sondheim classic, it’s really not one to miss.
This production by the Leeds Gilbert & Sullivan Society
can only be seen as a roaring success, headed by Artistic Director Anita
Adams. It showcased the work of these actors brilliantly in this heavily
ensemble-based adaptation of The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Adams has a
wealth of experience in community theatre having directed and choreographed
over 50 musicals and 20 operettas. The show was slick, well thought out and
detailed both in delivery and production. The ensemble where used
fantastically, assuming a body of psychological patients that knit the piece
together at every woven turn. Patients would maintain this eerie persona until
they were donned with a simple piece of costume and began to assume the
part they were playing, before seamlessly bedding themselves back into the
creepy group. The stage was almost constantly flooded with white clinical gowns
and gruesome makeup. This was the case so often that in the moments they
weren’t there, we were really drawn in. I personally loved how engrossed they
all were in their characters constantly giving us something to watch. Really
good work!
It would be easy to assume Sweeney Todd as the ‘lead’ in
this show but there are really two main protagonists that we follow, and boy, did both actors deliver. Kristen Cleworth in the part of Anthony did such a
fantastic job with arguably one of the most challenging roles Sondheim ever
wrote both musically and in character. Cleworth excels in this part. We see him
exude fresh youthfulness and uncensored love against the unrelenting dark
undercurrent of this world but stays strong in his morals and values. We backed
him from start to finish.
Jason Weightman who plays the demon barber himself delivered
nicely and brought a sense of vulnerability and volatility to this role which
is often very hard to do. This was a nice contrast to the overriding evilness
of the character. Weightman struggled vocally in the lower regions of
Sondheim’s musical demands but that is not to take away from his control and
dexterity with the text, managing to show character and emotion through lets
face it; a lot of very fast paced lyrics!
The other two mammoth parts in this piece are Mrs Lovett,
played by the instinctive and hilarious Jasmine Caine, and Joanna, played
gorgeously by Anna Halliday. Caine used all of her experience to give us a
lovely well rounded & nuanced character. She really squeezes all the juice
out of Mrs Lovett that there is to give, and wowed both musically and in character. Halliday
did such a fantastic job, with relatively less experience than her cast mates
she really stood her own as Joanna, flexing her muscles musically with some
super high soprano parts. Excellent work!
Musically the show was a complete success. With 'Sweeney...' it
has to be quite frankly, it has to be. With so many harsh and jarring harmonies
both vocally and with the band, the cast and musicians worked seamlessly
together to accentuate this dark and twisted world with its dark and twisted
score. This is largely down to the work of Adam Boniface, the Musical Director.
Using all his years of experience both with and without the baton in his hand I
was blown away with how effective and provoking the music was. Not just the
individual songs that we have come to love and know over the years, but the
underscoring of scene changes and dialogue that knit the piece together. The
band were faultless and that really set the tone for the actors on stage.
All in all it was a lovely night out at The Carriageworks.
Everything from the front of house staff to the details on stage, with
flickering old TV’s, bathtubs & ancient ovens that won't have been easy to
find or make. The time, effort and care put in to this project is plain for the
eye to see, I’ll definitely be visiting again! Though it is fair to say I won't
be coming for a shave any time soon!
Reviewer - Jack Wagman
on - 27.4.22
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