If too often you find yourself holed up in Lau, twisting your brain trying to survive your second semester of organic chemistry, you don’t want to see a play that’s going to tie your mind in knots. Mask and Bauble must have realized this and decided on a spring play that is about as far from meta-theater as one can get—Sweeney Todd, the Steven Sondheim classic on which Mask and Bauble gives an innovative take. Though at points disjointed, the cast takes full advantage of their roles to create a fun-filled atmosphere that will make any audience forget that they’re watching a play about killing people.
The play follows barber-gone-wrong Sweeney Todd, who has just returned to his hometown of London after a lengthy, undeserved prison sentence. Todd is quickly informed that his wife and daughter are dead, so he vows to take vengeance on the judge who sent them to their fates, and makes good on this through a bloody, cannibalistic, barbershop killing spree. But anyone interested in seeing the Mask and Bauble production should probably brush up on these key plot points before seeing it—the quick first few sequences make it tough to grab onto the storyline.
Some aspects of the production add to this disorientation—a stark set with few props and quick dialogue make scene transitions confusing. With the stage looking almost the same throughout the show, it becomes difficult to transport the audience to the various settings, especially between rooms in the same house. But in a creative production move, director Alice Cash (COL ’13) had her cast use rope to suggest different aspects of set and atmosphere. In different scenes, an ensemble clad in black held the rope in different ways to illustrate particular items: a set of stairs, shackles, even the bonds of love.
After learning what’s what and who’s who, the focus shifts from the main characters to the supporting ones, who really stole the show. Brendan Quinn (COL ’14) as lackey Tobias Ragg and Andrew Street (COL ’12) as henchman Beadle Bamford ham it up very well as the production’s comedic highlights. Despite occasional failures in comedic timing, all actors hit at least a few of their critical jokes, earning laughs from the audience. The show’s funniest moments occur when characters allude to the nonsensical nature of their situation—in this way, the cast makes it apparent that they enjoy the show, and that enjoyment rubs off on the crowd.
But in contrast with its stellar cast, musically, Sweeney Todd is average. The cast is vocally talented, but not emotive enough to make musical numbers engaging. The pit orchestra is flat-out disappointing—bumps and wrong notes throughout the performance distract from the story and contribute to an often-disjointed show.
But despite its considerable lowlights and shoddy execution, Sweeney Todd does not entirely disappoint. It’s a fun show with a talented, enthusiastic cast, and it’ll leave you humming its tunes—albeit with a few wrong notes.
