 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 View Reviews |
Submit Your Own |
GYPT Show Reviews
| Review of Sweeney Todd |
| By Free Press |
| On 06th February 2006 |
| Presenting horrific stage drama as an event conceived in a madhouse and performed by its detainees is not new but it’s a perfect approach for Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Christopher Bond’s 1970s adaptation of the Victorian penny-dreadful humanised what was a piece of gory pantomime, and director Ken Caswell sets it in Bedlam for Gwent Young People’s Theatre’s 50th anniversary celebrations. It would be almost impossible to think of a production that better demonstrated the coming together of theatrical skills which the group has so frequently engineered over the years. This one had pace, fluidity, melodrama, invention and galvanised ensemble playing, topped by principal parts taken with flair and well-practised stagecraft. Many of the tableaux on Bettina Reeve’s dark set were identifiable Caswell trademarks, forever drawing the audience into scenarios it would probably have wished to stay clear of and doing it with a certain amount of aggression and physicality. There were mature performances from Leighton Martin as the Barber and Bethan Witcomb as the eagerly co-operative Mrs Lovett, supported by Leo Jofeh (Anthony Hope), Hywel Vaughan (Judge Turpin), Harry Bowsher (Beadle), Matthew Butler (Tobias), Mathew Watkins (Pirelli), Sophie Forbes-Nah (Johanna) and Bethan Haycock (Beggar Woman). Tom Jenkins and Rosie Powell made a fine pair of Dickensian asylum-keepers. These days, we don’t have to take things on stage too literally, and this production encouraged the fusion of real and imagined, of mayhem and murderous intent. In a booby-hatch, the mind strays by definition. Nigel Jarrett – South Wales Argus 23rd January 2006 The members of the Gwent Young People’s Theatre rose to even greater heights when portraying the gory tale of the revenge of Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street. Their performance was so professional it even exceeded the recent television play on the infamous throat-cutting Sweeney in terms of entertainment value and theatrical tricks. Instead of the bloody scenes on TV, they used clever sound and lighting effects every time one of his victims was slain. Leighton Martin and Bethan Witcomb, who took part in the recent television play Kiddo, excelled in the parts of the barber and his partner-in-crime Nellie Lovett, whose pies strangely become tastier when he helps provide the fillings. Leighton was brilliant as the tragic barber whose wife and daughter are taken away by the lecherous Judge Turpin, who then wrongly jailed him before he could rescue them. Fifteen years later he returns, a changed man, to avenge their ruined lives. Bethan was so funny as she milked all the humour from the part of the scheming Mrs Lovett, who gets her just desserts in the end. But to praise just two of the cast would be wrong, for once again this was fantastic teamwork, with strong performances from Leo Jofeh as Anthony Hope, Sophie Forbes-Nash as Johanna, Matthew Butler as Tobias Ragg, Tom Jenkins and Rosie Powell as Mr and Mrs Fogg and Hywel Vaughan as the wicked judge who inevitably becomes one of Sweeney’s victims. The rest of the 40-strong cast – who played fallen women, beggars and inmates at the lunatic asylum – gave a highly polished performance which left you wanting to see such a superb interpretation again. West End director Ken Caswell returned to the company where he first learned his craft, to direct this play, almost 40 years after his last production with GYPT, and he praised the young people for their remarkable work. This was their first production to celebrate their 50th anniversary, and left the company with more fans than ever, eager to see their next offering. Lesley Flynn – Free Press 25th January 2006 |