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Sweeney Todd
Bringing Sondheim alive in a school production might seem ambitious: the tricky musical score, complex set demands and dark storyline might put some drama departments off. But within minutes of the start of Ms Fehr and Mr Hanson’s production of Sweeney Todd in December, it was obvious that we were in for a treat.
The cast met the challenges of the musical script head on and with panache. Sam Carl in the lead role was, some have said, better even than Johnny Depp in the film version – mercurial, malevolent and deeply tragic. Jo Siddall’s Mrs Lovett was breathtakingly accomplished, while other highlights included the superb music provided by the band, Omer Tiroche’s brilliantly comic turn as Pirelli, Charlotte Holtum – who, as the Beggar Woman, was hauntingly talented; and both Henry Zeffman and Arthur Graham-Dixon are to be congratulated on their very different but equally enthralling interpretations of Judge Turpin. The set and its lighting were fantastically effective in presenting a pie shop, barber shop, street scenes and a murderous trap door descending to a terrifyingly opaque dungeon full of blood-curdling machinery. Now, anyone for more pie? VLS
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Highgate School, North Road, London N6 4AY