Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
Sweeney: hero or psychotic?
Inthe
DURBAN’S KickstArt Company, headed by Steven Stead and Greg King, staged Stephen Sondheim’s Tony awardwinning musical, Sweeney Todd in 2014. The production won Durban theatre awards including Best Musical, Best Design and Direction. Stead and King have revived the production and recently wrapped a sold-out season in Joburg. Now it’s at Theatre on the Bay from Friday to April 9 with Jonathan Roxmouth and Charon Williams-Ros in the principal roles, supported by a superb cast which includes Michael Richard, Candice von Litsenborgh and Adam Pelkowitz.
Sweeney Todd returns to London after being wrongfully accused of a crime. He exacts revenge by murdering his clients as they sit in his barber’s chair.
Mrs Lovett, his neighbour, makes pies from the flesh of his victims. Some research apart, it is generally accepted that Sweeney is fictional. “He is an urban legend, whispered about for generations, turned into films, plays, trashy ‘penny dreadfuls’ and opera. He comes from inside our subconscious; exactly what I try to point out in our production,” said Stead.
“Generally, it is staged as a Victorian melodrama with an industrial edge. We take it a step further and begin with a twisted Victorian carnival magic-lantern show. This is the genesis point for Sweeney. He is born in our imaginations: a dark, terrifying, avenging anti-hero who we celebrate and fear. The red velvet curtains of the carnival disappear and reveal a maze of twisted blind alleys, brutal, unwelcoming 19th century Industrial Revolution backstreets and gantries, which is the world which gave birth to Sweeney Todd – the demon barber of Fleet Street. It is a multi-purpose set which relies on complicated direction and lighting to help tell the story and shift location.”
It’s misguided to view Sweeney as the villain of the piece, says Stead. “He is a wounded, psychotic, terrifyingly beautiful avenging angel; class warrior; people’s hero.
It is Mrs Lovett who is the real villain. He has a reason for doing what he does and we can identify with that: revenge. She is motivated purely by lust and expediency. He doesn’t set out to be a mass murderer. He wants revenge on the judge who wrongfully imprisoned him, raped his wife and caused her death. But he gets driven to excess by the unfairness of the world. Mrs Lovett helps him – well, focuses his appetites, shall we say.”
Durban based Charon Williams- Ros was in the Sweeney Todd production at the Elizabeth Sneddon in 2014 but the rest of the company has been recast.
“I was nervous about reprising the role with a new Sweeney,” she says. “That didn’t last. Jonathan is mature, focused, and generous and, as most of the country knows, an exceptional talent.” She reckons that in spite of Mrs L’s unbridled lust for murder and cannibal gastronomy, she wins us over.
“She has two qualities that has the audience on her side: her sense of humour and her ‘ love’ for Sweeney. Audiences are rooting for her – even hoping she’ll get away with it. Then, halfway through Act II she crosses the line and you see just how far she will go to get what she wants. She’s devastatingly cruel. It’s a fantastic part for a woman and I’ve enjoyed the way Lovett relishes her power,” says Williams-Ros, whose character was partly brought to life with memories of growing up in London.
● Tickets are R125- R350 at Computicket or the theatre on 021 438 3100.