London’s oldest pie and mash shop is set to host a site-specific production of Sweeney Todd from the end of October for around four weeks: Harrington’s Pie and Mash shop in Tooting will become the setting for Stephen Sondheim’s musical thriller in a production by Tooting Arts Club.
The show will run from 21 October to 29 November, and will begin with audiences congregating across the road in a traditional barber shop before moving over to Harrington’s, which opened in 1908, for the performance. The performances will fulfil even the most immersive theatre hunter’s expectations in a production you won’t forget in a hurry!
The production will be directed by Bill Buckhurst, who recently co-directed Shakespeare’s Globe’s Globe to Globe Hamlet. The producer of Tooting Arts Club, Rachel Edwards, has said that “It has been a long-held dream to do Sweeney Todd at this venue, and I am so pleased that it has been made possible by the generosity of the owners of Harrington’s”. The essence of Tooting Arts Club is completely summed up by the Sweeney Todd project by creating inventive work that has been born from lots of exciting collaborations with people at the heart of the Tooting community, it is hoped that this will be the first of many projects of this nature.
Another production of Sweeney Todd is also set to open this month at newly-formed Twickenham Theatre, while it has been reported that a production of the musical, starring Emma Thompson and Bryn Terfel, will lead English National Opera’s musical theatre season at the London Coliseum next year. David Bedella is to star as Sweeney, who won an Olivier award in 2004 for Jerry Springer the Opera. He will be joined by Sarah Ingram as Mrs Lovett. Her credits include Martin Guerre and Oklahama! It will run from 10 September to 4 October.