SWEENEY TODD

Music & Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by Hugh Wheeler
From an Adaptation by Christopher Bond
The Yale Dramatic Association
November 20 - 23, 2019

SWEENEY TODD

Synopsis:

A wrongfully convicted man seeks revenge. A struggling business owner does anything to survive. A child is separated from her parents. A woman isn’t believed. A judge abuses his power. A couple is punished for falling in love. A young adult is left to pick up the pieces. Thrilling and dark, funny and terrifying, Sweeney Todd tells the story of a community devouring itself from within and the potential for violence that lies within us all.

Stripped down to reveal the complicated psychological truths at its core, this production approached Sweeney Todd as if it were a new work, free of expectations and pre-conceived assumptions. Reimagined for the twenty-first century, our production was inspired by British cafes, American diners, and fast food chains that serve as de-facto community centers across both the UK and US. The production brought together an inclusive cast and production staff to tell a story that reflects our world today, set in one of the most diverse cities in the world.

Director’s Note:

As the Dramat and I discussed our approach to Sweeney Todd, it became apparent that the criminal injustices and cycles of violence at the heart of this forty-year-old musical reverberate through our world today. Rather than place the show in a distancing Victorian social framework, we’ve chosen to set our production in what playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney has coined as “the distant present.”

Our Sweeney is informed by classic London cafes (or caffs) that popped up after World War II and still dot the city today. Often founded by immigrants, many of these caffs—much like their American counterpart, the diner—serve as de-facto community centers, the glue that holds neighborhoods together. Writing in 1985, British dramatist Bernard Kops described caffs as “places for special relationships, places to pass the time, to assuage all sorts of thirsts, hunger.”

Hunger is central to our Sweeney Todd, from Judge Turpin’s uncontrollable sexual appetite and Mrs. Lovett’s ravenous customers, to Tobias’ insatiable “aching void” and Todd’s vengeful service to a “dark and hungry god.” By colliding the classical with the contemporary, our cast and creative team have asked what happens when we give in to our darkest, basest hungers and allow acts of cruelty to spiral out of control.

To many, Sweeney Todd depicts a world in which everything bends towards destruction. But, as Sondheim scholar Aaron C. Thomas reminds us, the musical is also a fable—the ‘Ballad’ insists on this—and it’s a story that has been told countless times and with different variations across generations. Thinking about the show as the repetition of a tragic ritual opens up a space for hope: The tale can be told differently. Perhaps the next time we feel the pull of the violence that we’ve ritualized as a society we will simply say no. It’s in our power to break the cycle. But there's work to be done, so much work.

PRESS

“Dramat Stages Sweeney Todd,” feature by Carrie Zhou for The Yale Daily News, November 21, 2019

"ARTIST PROFILE: Noam Shapiro ’15,” profile by Tamar Geller for The Yale Daily News, November 21, 2019