'Sweeny Todd' reviewed: a demon barber in an old hat
“There is a hole in the world like a great black pit/And the vermin of the world inhabit it.” Of course, Sweeny Todd here refers to Victorian London, where class and power distinctions lord it over the lives of ordinary men, himself included, but one does not need to make great leaps of imagination to extend the metaphor further, or closer, as the case may be. Stephen Sondheim’s classic “musical thriller” Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street opened at the Manoel Theatre on July 17. The musical first opened on Broadway in 1979 and features a score written by Sondheim with a book by Hugh Wheeler, based on the 1973 play of the same name by Christopher Bond. Starting its life as a 19th-century penny drama, the story of Sweeny Todd has become a popular tale of vengeance and meat pies of questionable provenance. Directed by Lucienne Camilleri with musical direction by Ryan Paul Abela, the rendition at the Manoel was faithful to the spirit of the original, with costumes and set design in keeping with the musical’s Victorian setting. The set was composed of two levels and a central revolving piece, giving dimension to the limited space afforded by the Manoel’s stage,...