Based on a
nineteenth century penny dreadful, the story of Sweeney Todd, the ‘Demon Barber’
of Fleet Street, is the stuff of legend. Whilst a largely fictional character,
he is often likened to Jack the Ripper as a figure whose mythology is larger
than that of any real person from the time. First published in serial form in
1846-7 as The
String of Pearls, a romance, the story was quickly adapted and appropriated
into different mediums, with the name Sweeney becoming ubiquitous with that of
a barber. A deliciously Victorian melodrama, it has captured the imaginations
of millions across the world, including those of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh
Wheeler who adapted Christopher Bond’s play into their successful
1979 musical.
Playing at Newtown ’s New Theatre,
Sweeney
Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is the story of Todd, a man who
is sentenced to life imprisonment in Australia
under a trumped-up charge and makes his return to London
