Review: Sweeney Todd is a full-on theatrical experience on Coventry stage

The Criterion Theatre’s production of Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, is filled with horror, beauty, tragedy, and humour. It’s a full-on experience, with a huge cast and a live orchestra, a theatrical experience that will not be quickly forgotten for its energy and style.

Sweeney Todd (Mark Randall) returns to London from imprisonment, having been unjustly condemned by Judge Turpin (Dean Sheridan), who desired Todd’s wife Lucy. While Todd was away, Lucy committed suicide, and the Judge brought up Todd’s daughter Johanna (Jessie Wilson) as his Ward. Now the Judge wants to marry Johanna, but he has a rival in young Anthony Hope (Martin Hall), and in Todd himself, who wants revenge, not just on the Judge but on the whole world that has done him wrong. Todd sets up shop as a barber above Mrs Lovett’s (Rayner Wilson) pie shop. Her trade is not going so well, as she has a reputation for making the worst pies in London. Until, that is, she and Todd come up with a scheme to turn their fortunes around.

It’s not a comedy, though it is thrilling entertainment. Mark Randall is a fine singer and commands the stage with a deep and dark intensity. He is well matched by Rayner Wilson. Theirs is a love with a very bleak side, a Faustian pact that transcends the limits of normal behaviour. Rayner Wilson has played this role before at the Loft Theatre, Leamington, and she brings a wealth of experience to it. Others worthy of note are Andrew Halliday as a very mean Beadle, the Judge’s fixer, with a comic flair for music hall, and Anne-Marie Green as Pirelli, Todd’s rival in barbering, for a while. Paul Vickers brings an innocent charm to the simple lad Tobias Ragg, who gains a dreadful power at the end.

The big cast work well together, though some voices were better than others, and there were times when I could not make out the words of the chorus. There were issues too with the sound balance, especially at the beginning, when some singers could not be heard above the music. The set has been well designed for its atmosphere and to make maximum use of the space without the need for fussy scene changes.

Our fascination with serial killers never diminishes, and the tale of Sweeney Todd is one that the tabloids would relish. A killer’s pain writ large upon the streets; a warped sense of justice; true love mired in blood. It’s full-on melodrama, driven by a fantastic score and powerful character appearances.

I saw the show on a stiflingly hot night, and at times I felt as if I were in Mrs Lovett’s basement. The packed audience loved it. Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Steet, creates a world that is claustrophobic in its intensity. The Criterion Theatre’s production does it proud.

The show runs until June 24. Visit criteriontheatre.co.uk to book.