Sweeny Todd at
The Theatre on the Bay, Camps Bay, Cape Town RSA
On Friday
11th of March last
I attended an edgy, gripping performance of “Sweeny Todd” at The Theatre on the
Bay, at Camps Bay, Cape Town, RSA.
Music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, Produced by Pieter. Directed by Steven
Stead, Set Designed by Greg
King of the award-winning ‘KickstArt team.
Costume Design by Neil Stuart Harris, Lighting Design by Tina Le Roux, Hair & Wigs by Jan and
Mik'hail of Headmasters
This
edgy, unsettling musical, melodrama is set in a visually pleasing and satisfying yet technically
complex stage set exuding the hidden stage craft skills and experience of the
scenographer Greg King. Anticipation
stirs as the house lights darken and the characters emerge through the brightening misty gloom, revealing a small, theatrical presentation/performance
space with a backing shadow screen through which the demonic, deranged and threatening
Sweeney Todd slashes his entrance.
A magical production with mesmerising
performances by an all South African cast led by Jonathan Roxmouth as
Sweeney Todd and Charon Williams-Ross as Mrs Lovett. Running at Theatre on the
Bay, Camps Bay, Cape Town till Saturday April 9th 2016
Scenographer
Greg King fills the performance space with a multitude of cameo performance
spaces in his stylised Dickensian/Victorian London-esque multi-tiered and multifaceted
set.
The
access to and from the multiple embedded performance spaces enhances the (at
times) very fast energetic pace of the performance/performers. Access between
the stage level spaces is via doors and archways and access between the higher
level performance spaces is via steps and catwalks amid chimney stacks and pots,
with the exception of the 1st floor “Barbers Shop” which can also be
exited via a chute to the Pie making facility in the basement.
The
timely lit performance areas within the space and the smooth queuing of the
performers bring the audience effortlessly from setting to setting and from
time to time.
The
first floor “Barbers Shop” performance area doubles as a roof top with the
ceiling roof piece over the Barbers Shop folding down over the barber shop’s
props and dressings and becoming a sky-light on a roof top.
Through
the deftly re-setting of props, dressings and cast, augmented with nifty
lighting by Lighting Designer Tina Le Roux,
the ground floor, centre stage “Mrs Lovett’s Pie Shop” changes from interior to
exterior to street area.
A very satisfying design solution not only visually pleasing to the eye
but it also charges the emotions of fear and dread. The engineering of this
complex set is unobtrusive, it works smoothly and enables and enhances the energetic
performance of the cast and is very sympathetic to the ambiance of the drama.
The backing of black drapes and partially lit back scenic elements of
the upstage gave a subdued warm, menace to the space. This restrained lighting
effect assisted in keeping the observer’s attention on the performers.
Neil Stuart Harris’s Costume Design was effective in giving the period/fantasy
characters an imaginative, enhanced credibility and an appearance or sense of
being in a deprived, foggy Dickensian London borough.
Tina Le Roux’s Lighting Design was subtle and
sensitive in conveying changes of location, time and bringing emphasis to dramatic
moments.
When appropriate it added to the sense of danger, menace and horror to
the, at times, dramatically claustrophobic setting in which this period fantasy,
edgy, unsettling musical drama unfolds.
The
programme was good value at ZAR 30 (€1.70) apart from information on Theatre on
the Bay, Pieter Toerien Productions, biographies on the all South African cast
and crew it contained some nice production photos
Programmes
that provide useful content such as the Director’s view on the play and/or
comments and sketches by the designers giving insight into some of the thought
process behind the concept development are to be encouraged. Such input from
the Director and the Designers is of immense value to students of Design for
Stage and Screen, Performance, Design for Performance and when provided is to
be welcomed.
Neil Stuart Harris:
