Sweeney Todd

The production and my role:

Sweeney Todd appeared on the spring line-up as the week 5 weekend show, with performances from March 15th-17th, 2024.

Although I assistant directed Blood Brothers, I consider Sweeney Todd to be the first show I properly directed for DramaSoc. This is because unlike Blood Brothers, I had to create a pitch to put on this show with the society and get it selected by a panel. I have a history with the playtext, with my main introduction of it coming from my school work for the IBDP. One of my assessments had me create an in-depth plan to how I would direct a show, and the show I selected for the assessment was Sweeney Todd. So my ideas on putting this production on had been in the works since 2022. For more information about my IBDP work and Sweeney Todd, visit this page...

Putting on Sweeney Todd with DramaSoc allowed me to fully explore what was once hypothetical, and work with a budget and team of people to bring my ideas to life. At first glance, one would assume the play to be a dark piece of theatre, and although this is true in some senses, there is humour within it. My aim as a director was to play with this sense of horror and melodramatic comedy (which links to my previous research and work into Grand Guignol Theatre). Playing with the two would allow for the typical portrayal of “two-dimensional” characters in the play to be given more depth. At its core, the story is about Sweeney Todd, a tortured man whose family was wronged and is seeking revenge. Starting with good intentions, Todd slowly loses his sense of self and succumbs to alternative motives, becoming a cold-blooded killer. I really wanted to play with audience's sense of empathy towards Todd, and highlight that the reason for this change in state is not due to him as a person but rather due to the society he lives in. This being aided through witness to constant power imbalances between characters, such as Todd and Mrs. Lovett comparatively to Judge Turpin and the Beadle. It would be up to opinion to whether or not Todd's actions were moral or not, given his history and situation. Costume design also played a part in demonstrating the class divide, and change in mental state of characters - this is specifically seen through Todd and Mrs. Lovett.

Paired with this consideration of the text, another ambition of mine was to explore how far one could go with design elements. The biggest challenge faced was determining how the many locations of the show would be depicted. However, with working with the set designers, and wider production team, we were able to coordinate using technical aspects, we were able to create a rather static set, with lighting and soundscapes aiding in the allocation of scene location. Additionally, the logistics of getting a chair that disposes of its occupant proved to establish some creative problem-solving in working around the limited budget and venue limitations - which awarded the production's set designers, Abagail Mortimer and Vincent Klein with the "Best Innovator" award at the DramaSoc spring awards ceremony. 

I had an absolute blast spending lots of my time working on this play, it was so rewarding seeing all the interest it gained and how excited the cast and crew were to work on this project. What started off as an assessment, ended with three sold out shows - I could not have been happier with the end result!