This week, a grimy, bloodstained pall falls over Montreal’s Centaur Theatre. Audiences hush and homes shutter their doors. Starcatcher Productions’ has unleashed its performance of the renowned horror classic, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
I and nearly thirty others stood in the hall that dark evening, waiting with bated breath. We were collectively late for the 7:30 PM showing (damned Montreal construction). From the stairway we could already hear the sound of two voices creeping through the floorboards. And out of the dark, with a tremulous slowness, emerged the mirage of Fleet Street.
What a tremendous performance! Music with real, choking weight, courtesy of the live orchestra that at turns dominates the stage and fades to a haunting murmur behind the actors’ story. Vocals that chill the spine and rattle the ribs – Johanna (Elizabeth Guettler) sang to move heaven and earth. Blackbirds would fall out of the sky. It was an apocalyptic performance. Not to be overlooked is Ms. Lovett (Erin Yardley-Jones), whose performance is riotously funny in every tiny way possible. She carries the “comedy” aspect of this black comedy on her back, a feat which distracts from her incredible range. It’s a real struggle to stop laughing in time to appreciate the sudden stabs of technical excellence she throws your way (some people might be capable of both, but I was consistently deafened by my own entertainment. Sue me).
Props to the production team as well, whose perfectly timed lighting and sound effects took us straight down to hell in Ms. Lovett’s cellar. From the choral ensemble to the demonic red flourish of the spotlights, Starcatcher’s captured the religious thread which twines through much of Sweeney Todd while allowing the lead man himself (Gage Karahkwí’io Diabo) to remain a bitterly grounded character. There’s something disgustingly poetic about the fact that his mic died during the very start of the musical. Feedback popped through the pie shop like gunfire; production must have decided to cut their losses, because for much of the play Diabo was belting his lines raw, competing for attention not only with his micc-ed colleagues but with the orchestra as well. He rose to the challenge, his voice guttural, beautiful. Emblematic of a wronged man howling for justice… or blood.
Sweeney Todd asks: where is the line between redemption and revenge? How is it that the wanton act of murder could be transformed, like the sunlit radiance of the razor, when clutched aloft in Todd’s hand? What drives a man to turn his worldview topsy-turvy so that those above serve those below and the first thing to be eaten is thy neighbour? Perhaps nothing, nothing at all. There’s a Sweeney Todd beside you dressed in the skin of a Benjamin Barker. Too close of a shave, and you’ll see what lies beneath.
Todd is a hungry god, but not a greedy one. If you fancy to witness live the musical which inspired Tim Burton’s famous movie, Starcatcher will be showing all week at 7:30 PM at the Centaur Theatre. They operate on an incredibly generous pay-what-you-decide policy, with tickets starting at $7.50. If the evening atmosphere makes your neck hairs prickle, then next Saturday, August 29th offers a free bus ride to the 2PM matinée. Go! Book a seat, get comfortable. Try not to check below you.
Sweeney Todd continues until August 29 at the Centaur Theatre. For tickets, click HERE.
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