Metropolitan Community Theatre : The Comedy / Thriller / Musical Sweeney Todd

The technical aspects of the production such as scenery, properties and costumes also played a keynote in the productions success. The scenery was fabulous it truly made the play. It was very realistic and extremely vibrant. Almost the entire play was performed in one setting, except for the railcar and dance scenes. The house, the main setting, was magnificent with painstakingly placed detail in every corner. All elements in the house matched wonderfully, for example the furniture, the photos on the wall, the telephone and even the trash can. Little bits of detail were everywhere adding to the beautification of the set, for example the lace decorations on the chairs, the etched glass above the front door and even the Christmas tree.

Sweeney Todd, previously known as Benjamin Barker, “the most accomplished barber in all of London”, is married to Lucy and has a daughter named Johanna. An evil judge named Turpin yearned for his wife, so his jealousy and greed resulted in the exile of Todd to Australia, for a crime he did not commit so that he could have Lucy to himself. Fifteen years later, Barker, now named Sweeney Todd to hide his identiy, returns with the help of a sailor named Anthony Hope. As he seeks revenge, he meets a pie shop owner named Mrs.Lovett whom later becomes his willing and loyal partner in crime. He is informed by her that her Lucy had poisoned herself and Johanna

The set was designed in a way that was very versatile and yet, still convey a serious message. By versatile, I am implying that the open-stage with two ramps crossing each other in the background was plain and simple but served a purpose of several scenes -- such as a bar, church, and even a funeral. A set prop that were a key pieces in the play were the wooden benches, these made it possible for the actors to switch scenes. Some examples on the usage of the benches were when they stacked two benches one on top of another and turned it into a bar, they turned the bench in a vertical position and created a podiums to express different religions, or setting the benches in a close and aligned design to create a church. Other props that influenced the scenes were snow, umbrellas, then using the umbrellas as angel wings, and of course lighting. Instead of building entire sets, or making the audience use their imagination with no props included in the play, the set designers and directors created visuals that were ordinary objects and interacted the audience to use their imagination and "build" the appropriate set for the scene in their minds. I believe by keeping a low budget, the designers of The Laramie Project accomplished a bigger impact on the audience with a simple-low-budget set rather than an expensive-big-fancy set.

The scenic design in this play was extraordinary, and I could tell there was a lot of effort put into it. In this play there was a stairway towards the back of the stage. It brought in a new way for the actors to enter/exit the stage. I thought this was very creative idea that was easy to move on, and off stage if needed. There were many scenes that had the moon and the stars in the background. I loved this because it showed the audience when it was night time. I also love looking at the moon and the stars, I feel it creates a very romantic atmosphere. There were times the setting was inside a house or a pub, and then there were times that the setting was outside like the war scene, and the balcony scene. I

For our critiquing assignment in our Introduction to Stagecraft 1, I ventured to downtown Toronto, to a small indie theatre called, The Unit 102 Theatre. There I saw the production of MISS; written by Dora Award-nominated playwright Michael Ross Albert who wrote such works as Tough Jews, The Spadina Avenue Gang with the Storefront Theatre. The set takes place in the aftermath of a shocking accident in a boarding school classroom, the story explores the tenuous connection between a high school teacher, her fiance, and a troubled student whose lives have been irrevocably changed by tragedy caused by a miscarriage, an affair, and the fear of the consequences that are not yet revealed, and finally, murder. This is a one act showdown between three

The character Sweeney Todd is introduced at the beginning of the movie sailing into a port located in London, England. In the opening scenes, an accompanying character is bright and cheery, which is met by Mr. Todd with anger and frustration. It is worth mentioning at this point that the entirety of the film is observed through a gray lens; skies are dark and colors are muted, portraying a depressed atmosphere. We learn later in the film that this depressive state is as result of past events, specifically that

Using certain shapes of materials and color helped the audience understand the scenery of the play, being able to understand what time period this took place. The lighting through the play was great, being able to clearly see in detail for each scene. For example, when the Stage manager introduces the people in Grover's Corner, is was clear and easy to see what type of life style they live. Grisel Torres did an excellent job with the angles, colors, and shadows throughout the play, really emphasizing the emotion and lighting for each scene. Allison Mortimer, the costume designer, did a good job figuring out what each character should wear and allowing the audience to decide which class each character fits in society. The costumes looked like they were somewhat middle class and even looked vintage at times. I wasn't sure if they were recreated or not. Changing costumes for different scenes made it easier to understand the aspect of the scene and allowing the audience to understand what will happen.

The Hawkeye Community Theatre prepares to offer a variety of shows this summer. They will start off with the British comedy play, “Tom, Dick, and Harry” in June.

The play Sweeney Todd has been performed on numerous stages since 1979. The 1982 version of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, was directed by Harold Prince. Unfortunately, I watched a recoded production of the play; the recoding took place in 1982 but was based off the 1979 production. Over all my impression of Sweeney Todd, is that the play has a bitter-sweet tone that supports all the killing, lying, and deceiving that goes on in the play just so that Sweeney Todd could get his so called revenge.

As the curtain raised and the performance began a minimalist set was revealed; stool, chair, basket and a coat-rack. Initially, the minimalist set predicted that the play would be slow-moving, however the lack stage furniture actually focused the audience even more on the storyline, as there were few distractions. This also allowed the actors to effectively include Drama Mediums such as multiple prop. The actors

Realism provides only amoral observation, while absurdism rejects even the possibility of debate. (Frances Babbage, Augusto Boal). The cynicism of this remark reflects the aberrant attitude towards absurdism, yet there is truth to it. Theatre of the absurd is an esoteric avant-garde style of theatre based on the principles of existentialism that looks at the world without any assumption of purpose. Existentialism and Theatre of the Absurd became identified with a cultural movement that flourished in Europe in the 1940s and 1950s, after the Second World War. The idea that man starts with nothing and ends with nothing is a common theme amongst most absurd plays. Despite this strange philosophy, Theatre of the

Joanna is a ward of Judge Turpin. The Judge framed her father and took his wife and father as his own. Joanna is locked up. She is gazing out of a window. Looking out the window, Joanna sings about how she and the birds are very much alike (Sweeney Todd Synopsis.)

One of the most vital parts of putting on a play is a director who will provide an understandable, and watchable performance. This play was a much easier play to put on as it is based on a classic novel by Harper Lee. From the audiences point of view, the director clearly understood the novel. He gave a very well adapted stage version of the book, however he didn't rely on the audience having read the book, he also created a whole new story through different techniques and fresh ways of telling a story. As a person who has read the book and was a fan of it, and Harper Lee I personally thought that he did it justice and filled some large boots. The director employed very subtle and yet effective staging techniques during certain scenes that required a different atmosphere. Some examples of these techniques were during the scene between Scout and Atticus near the beginning of the play. Here the staging was very central, this provided a sense of a close relationship between the characters. Also, a small inclusion of a chair, or a light immediately makes the scene seem more like a home, and the audience immediately have a different expectation of the scene, for example if an armchair is introduced to the stage then the audience expect a scene at home, however if a desk and computer is introduced then the audience expects a scene at work or in a study and therefore the scene will have a completely different atmosphere.

The lighting of any production is the most important part in my thought. the lighting puts you in the mood that you have to be in, in order to fully understand that part of the show and to actually live it like they do. For example, when they were in the park and it was raining, they had their umbrellas, and the background effects of rain made it really seem as if it was raining in the theatre. The lighting was always focused on every part of the stage, especially on those who were the main parts in that scene.

The setting of the play helped to develop the mood. First of all, the abundance of props brought the story to live successfully. For example, the bed and door created the forgotten, quiet feeling in the old man's room. Next, the floorboards were lifted up so it actually looked like the