Sweeney Todd or ‘The String of Pearls’★★★
Wiltons Music Hall
Most will be familiar with Sweeney Todd, the Sondheim musical about the Demon Barber of Fleet St, who slit the throat of his victims and sold the meat to his female accomplice who used it to make pies. However less familiar is The String of Pearls, the original Victorian melodrama based on a penny dreadful story, that tells the story of Todd. Like Mrs Lovett’s pies, it will appeal to a rather particular taste. Wilton’s Musical Hall in London’s East End, the UK’s oldest surviving music hall, is the fitting venue for Opera della Luna’s revival.
The story is deliberately convoluted. Like pantomime, where the main storyline meanders in and out of the subplots, it is hard to keep track and not completely necessary. Penny dreadfuls and the melodramas based on them were romps through mustache-twirling villainy, histrionic emotions, gory horrors and colourful characterisation. This production has buckets of them.
The String of Pearls in the title was a gift from a lost sailor lover that needed to be reunited with the heroine Johanna Oakley (Madeline Robinson). The pearls land in the hands of Todd (Nick Dwyer) due to his habit of slaughtering those unfortunate enough to request a short back and sides from him. Todd’s apprentice Tobias (Caroline Kennedy), deeply disturbed by the bloody clues piling up in the barber shop, tries to raise the alarm. Todd spends his time trying to cover his tracks, sell the necklace and keep his depraved network of enablers and helpers in check. Meanwhile, justice is on his trail.
The performers are unrestrained in their embrace of the melodrama. It’s played for hisses, boos and giggles. Underscored with music that’s as enthusiastic in its dramatic participation as the piano accompaniment to a silent movie, and with large dollops of sound effects. Surprisingly there are some lovely female solos that lean into the soapy operatics that remind you that this is a professional quality production that is purposely using ham as an ingredient. Unlike Mrs. Lovitt’s pies.
It’s all very music hall, which, of course, is a deliberate choice for the venue. It cries out for audience participation in a very ‘He’s behind you!’ kind of way. It’s not a subtle piece of theatre, but has there ever been a low-key way of doing cannibalism for laughs?
Review by ANDREW HEBDENQueerguru Contributing Editor ANDREW HEBDEN is a MEDIA & CULTURAL STUDIES graduate spending his career between London, Beijing, and NYC as an expert in media and social trends. As part of the expanding minimalist FIRE movement, he recently returned to the UK and lives in Soho. He devotes as much time as possible to the movies, theatre, and the gym. His favorite thing is to try something (anything) new every day.
Labels: 2023, Andrew Hebden, Opera della Luna, review, Sweeney Todd or ‘The String of Pearls’, Wiltons Music Hall
