Victorian Opera | Sweeney Todd
September 14, 2024, Playhouse Theatre, Melbourne, VIC
This production is spectacularly gruesome and entertaining in the best way.
The talent shines on and off the stage, with first mention going to Conductor Phoebe Briggs, the Victorian Opera Chamber Orchestra who played with cutthroat precision. This is undoubtedly one of Stephen Sondheim’s greatest masterpieces, a ghoulish tale which unflinchingly reflects human nature in all its kindness and awfulness.
It’s not a new production, which was created in partnership between Victorian Opera and New Zealand Opera and has enjoyed much success. This season is no different.
The lighting by Philip Lethlean is mood provoking and evocative. Each scene is dark and dingy, with the action the focus of every light. A fabulous effect when Sweeney’s razor is discovered and unveiled.
Ben Mingay is the lead role, with Antoinette Halloran playing Mrs Lovett. The two are fantastically suited to the roles and each other, having just warmed up during the sold out Sydney leg of the tour.
The words are so important to this work, which sits in a special place between opera and old fashioned musicals, and I can’t get over the clarity of diction from all involved but especially Mingay and Halloran. The plosive sounds in the English language are played with in the text and they explode the meaning. Well done to Stuart Maunder and Sound Designer Jim Atkins for getting the best out of the cast in this regard.
Lachlan Lawton and Alessia Pintabona played Anthony and Johanna, the young love interest with wide eyes and optimism. While the baddies of the case Adrian Tamburini as Judge Turnpin and Kanen Breen as The Beadle were as fabulously creepy as the white collar criminals they portrayed.
Of course the cast wouldn’t be complete without those characters which provide emotional depth, in this case the Beggar Woman played by Margaret Trubiano and dodgy salesman Adolfo Pirelli played by Euan Fistrovic Doidge. Both roles are integral to the plot and give a dramatic context to the main players.
Trubiano was brilliant lurking around the edges like a Victorian Cassandra, and being an annoying, comic relief but endearing enough that I was sad at her eventual demise. Pirello was brilliant, and I was reminded of his performance in Candide, which also reduced the audience to tears of laughter.
This is a brilliant production where everything comes together: the director, the sound, lighting, set and costumes (by Roger Kirk), cast and creatives, including the Ensemble and Orchestra. Kudos for Victorian Opera for keeping things intimate at the Playhouse Theatre, which means the audience remains connecting with the show in a way which is lost in a bigger venue.
Tickets to the show, I hear, are more popular than Mrs Lovett’s pies. Well done VO.
Image credit: Charlie Kinross
