Tickets are now on sale for EMT’s Thirtieth Anniversary production of the sophisticated, macabre, visceral and uncompromising Stephen Sondheim musical masterpiece, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Although this is the third time EMT have tackled Sweeney Todd in their thirty year history, the piece has become such a classic of the musical theatre repertoire that it is open to a variety of interpretations as Kenneth Pinkerton, Finance Director of the Company reflects:
“The challenge in picking a show is to satisfy cast, production team and audience alike and arguably Sweeney Todd is one of the few musicals which rises to such a challenge – it’s undoubtedly stood the test of time and been reinvented in various forms, like the 2005 John Doyle production with a cast of ten each playing their own instrument, the 2007 Tim Burton movie or its most recent reincarnation with Michael Ball and Imelda Staunton set to transfer to the West End and open in March, shortly before our own.”
EMT’s 2012 production continues the reinvention by introducing innovative features which haven’t been seen before as it features fully integrated signing for every performance of the week-long run. Sweeney brings to Edinburgh the unique experience of integrated British Sign Language (BSL) onstage. BSL is normally delivered by interpreters placed at the side of the stage in spotlight, but in this production the signers are EMT cast members.
Under the guidance of BSL lecturer/communicator Billy Docherty, who has long been advocating the use of integrated sign onstage, the cast members deliver the story as it happens amid the action, allowing BSL users full access to the story and the strange world of Sweeney Todd. EMT's 2011 Fringe show Pop Goes the Musical! was the company’s first experience of using an integrated signer which was a huge success with positive feedback from members of the deaf community and hearing communities alike, with the company featured in an episode of the BBC’s See Hear.
Integrating BSL and Sweeney Todd has been exciting and challenging. All great stories have a magical power to connect people, and tales told in the rich and creative language of BSL are no different. It opens up new ways of working and telling the tale, as people become transfixed as the visual version unfolds, which is strongly carried through into the style and approach of the creative, as Director, Michael Richardson explains:
”In common with recent shows such as Footloose and Rent, the design will maximise the features of the Church Hill Theatre to present a dark, stylised version of the London underworld in which much of the action takes place, inhabited by an ever-present chorus of gutter people.
“This chorus is involved in the simultaneous translation of the script into BSL, which will add an extra layer to the design concept of the show, providing an intrinsic choreography to the actions of the performers. Integrated BSL interpretation is something I have been working on in theatre for several years, and this production presents an opportunity to push the boundaries of how BSL can be used in theatre in an exciting and enhancing way.”
Performance Dates and Times:
Tuesday 27 – Saturday 31 March, 7.30pm and Saturday 21 March matinee at 2.30pm
Ticket prices: £10 - £14
Tickets via www.edinburghtheatre.co.uk or www.usherhall.co.uk (booking fee applies) or 0131 228 1155 (booking fee applies)
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